


The Strange Girl.

by Lycette_Jones



Series: The Strange Girl. [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Female Snape, Ginny Weasley Bashing, Harry Potter - Freeform, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Hogwarts, M/M, Time Travel, Wizarding World (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:09:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 63,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29085153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lycette_Jones/pseuds/Lycette_Jones
Summary: Harry Potter starts his 6th year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But will it be a normal year? Or will it be different than ever? With a newcomer, will there be more challenge he will have to face? Is this person a friend or foe? Harry will have to figure out his feelings and choose. But what will he deicide?  Could his decision be the wrong one?  Unlikely. Will his own feelings get in the way of the war? Or will he be able to navigate his feelings to create the power he needs to defeat the Dark Lord.Authors note: the first 1 to 8 chapters are basically taken from the 6th Harry Potter book with my added twist just to get the beginning of the story right. The chapters from then on are written fully from me.  Leave comments and suggestions!
Relationships: Dean Thomas/Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy/Blaise Zabini, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter/Severus Snape, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Katie Bell/Alicia Spinnet, Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood
Series: The Strange Girl. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2133903
Comments: 13
Kudos: 32





	1. The Girl.

The train whistled behind us, nearly everyone had already boarded the train and the doors were about to close.   
“You’d better hurry.” said Mr Weasley, as Mrs Weasley cried, “Harry quickly! Get on the train!!”.   
I hurried forwards and Mr and Mrs Weasley helped get my trunk on the train. Mrs Weasley grabbed my sleeve.  
“Now, you are coming to us for Christmas, It’s all fixed with Dumbledore, so we will see you soon. Now have a fantastic year and try not to go looking for mysterious creatures at night.” Said Mrs Weasley. She let me go and I shut the door. The train began to move. I waved at both of them until they were both out of view. I turned to see where the others had gone. Hermione and Ron were in the prefect carriage and Ginny was a wee bit along talking to some of her friends. I made my way towards her, trying to ignore the other students staring at me. She shook her head and went down the corridor with Dean. I felt a tinge of annoyance. I was so used to having her around all summer I had forgotten that Ginny does not particularly hang with me and Hermione and her brother Ron. I looked around.   
“Hi Harry!” Said a familiar voice from behind me.   
“Neville!” I said, in relief, I turned to see him struggling towards me. I just smiled.   
“Hello, Harry.” said a girl with long blonde hair and large misty blue eyes. Who was just behind Neville.   
“Luna, hi, how are you?” I asked taking a quibbler. She smiled gently.   
“Very well, thank you.” said Luna. She was clutching the rest of the copies of the Quibbler tightly.  
“I see the Quibbler is still going strong?” I asked, I felt a fondness over the magazine since last year I did an exclusive interview.   
“Oh yes, circulation is well up this year.” said Luna happily.   
“Let’s find some seats then” I said and the three of us walked down the corridor of the train in hope of getting a carriage where not every wizard and witch was gawping at me. At last we found a compartment that was thankfully empty. I hurried inside and sat down quickly.   
“They are even staring at us,” said Neville, indicating himself and Luna. “It is because we are with you!”  
“They are staring at you because you were at the Ministry, too.” I said, as I hoisted my trunk into the luggage rack.  
“Can I please join you? All the carriages are full?” A girl asked from the carriage door. I nodded and she sat beside me in silence. She had black hair, with black eyes. She was extremely thin, she had a hooked nose. She looked like my Potions professor. Snape. I did not recognise her.   
“I thought my Gran would be angry about all the publicity.” said Neville, “ But she was really pleased. Says I’m starting to live up to my dad at long last. She bought me a new wand, look!” He pulled his wand out and showed it to me. I just smiled. Hopefully now, he will be able to do some decent magic.   
“Cherry and unicorn hair,” He said proudly, “We think it was one of the last Ollivandor ever sold, he vanished the next day- oi, come back, Trevor!”   
Neville dived under the seat to retrieve his toad as it made one of its frequent bids of freedom.   
“Have you ever decided to let Trevor go? He seems to want to be free.” The girl quipped. Neville held Trevor in his hand and looked down. Luna was playing with her psychedelic spectacles and I was trying to figure out where she came from.   
“You ask him!” one of the girls said from outside the compartment. There were some of them huddled outside. One of them, a bold-looking girl with large dark eyes, a prominent chin and black hair, opened the compartment door.  
“Hi, Harry, I am Romilda Vane.” She said loudly. She seemed confident. “Why don’t you join us in our compartment? You don’t have to sit with them.” She continued glancing at Neville who was pulling up his trousers as he was trying to keep a hold of Trevor at the same time and then at Luna who was now wearing her free spectrespecs, which gave her the look of a demented and muilticolored owl.   
“They are my friends” I replied coldly.   
“Oh,” said the girl who was now looking really surprised. She then quickly shut the compartment door before scurrying off with her friends. I just sighed in relief that she was gone.   
“People expect you to have cooler friends than us.” said Luna, now displaying her knack for embarrassing honesty.  
“You are cool Luna.” I said shortly. “None of them were at the Ministry. They did not fight with me. They are not cool.”  
“That is a very nice thing to say!” beamed Luna, and she pushed her “glasses” further up her nose and settled to read her magazine.   
“We did not face him, though.” said Neville, emerging from under the seat with fluff and dust in his hair and a resigned looking toad in his hand. “You did. You should hear my gran talk about you ‘That Harry Potter’s got more backbone that the whole Ministry of Magic put together!’ She’d give anything to have you as a grandson…”   
I laughed uncomfortably and changed the subject to the O.W.L results as soon as I could. While Neville recited his grades and wondered aloud whether he would be able to take a Transfiguration N.E.W.T with only an ‘Acceptable’, I watched him without truly listening. I glanced over to the girl. She was reading her book. I didn’t recognise it.   
“It is rude to stare, you know,” She stated, closing her book quietly. Neville continued to talk to Luna.   
“I am sorry. I was just wondering what you were reading.” I said, looking away.   
“I am reading Pride and Prejudice. It is a muggle book.” She replied, placing the book beside her. I remember my Aunt Petunia reading that when I finished my first year of Hogwarts.  
“My Aunt Petunia has read that. Is it any good?” I asked and she just sighed.   
“Yes or I would not be reading it.” She commented. She picked up her book and began to read again.   
I looked at Neville. Neville’s childhood had been blighted by Lord Voldemort just as much as mine had but Neville had no idea how close he was to having my destiny. A selfish part of me, wishes he did. What would have happened if Voldemort chose Neville. It would be Neville who had the lightning shaped scar and the weight of the prophecy. I questioned whether Neville’s mother would have done the same as mine. Surely she would have done. If not then there would be no chosen one. There would be an empty seat across from me and I would have been kissed goodbye by my own mother instead of Ron’s.   
“You alright. Harry? You look funny.” said Neville.   
I started.  
“Sorry- I -”  
“Wrackspurts got you Harry?” asked Luna sympathetically, peering at me through her enormous coloured spectacles.   
“I - what?”  
“ A Wrackspurt… they are invisible, they float in through your ears and make your brain go all fuzzy,” She said. “I thought I felt one zooming around here.”  
She flapped her hands at thin air which caught the attention of the unknown girl.Me and Neville looked at each other and quickly talked about Quidditch. I noticed the girl was still observing Luna.   
The weather beyond the compartments window was as patchy as it had been all summer. They pass through stretches of the chilling mist, then into weak, clear sunlight. It was during one of the clear spells where Ron and Hermione decided to join us.   
“Wish the lunch trolley would hurry up, I am starving,” said Ron longingly, slumping into his seat in between myself and Luna. Hermione sat in between Neville and the unknown girl. Hermione looked at her in a confused look. “Hi, Neville, hi Luna, and hello unknown person. Guess what?” He added, turning to me. “Malfoy’s not doing prefect duty. He is just sitting in his compartment with the other Slytherins, we saw him when we passed.”  
I sat up straight, interested in what was being said. It was not like Malfoy to pass up the chance to demonstrate his power as Prefect, which he had happily abused all the previous year.   
“What did he do when he saw you?”  
“The usual.” said Ron indifferently, demonstrating a ruse hand gesture, The unknown girl looked at him and back down at her book. “It is not like him, though, is it? Well - that is -” he did the hand gesture again before continuing. “But why isn’t he out there bullying first years?”   
“I don’t know.” I replied sadly. My mind was racing. It looked like Malfoy had more important things to do instead of bullying first years. But what?  
“Maybe he preferred the Inquisitorial Squad,” said Hermione.  
“Maybe being prefect seems a bit tame after that.” She continued on.   
“I do not think so.” I said, “I think he is -”   
“Maybe it is not a good idea to create conspiracy theories just yet.” the unknown girl said, closing her book. Everyone stared at her.   
“He is obviously up to something.” I replied quickly. I noticed she did not wear a school tie which usually stated what house she was in. Just mismatched clothes.  
“You don’t know that he is.” She stated. I just sighed.   
“Well I am going to find out” I said abruptly standing and grabbing my invisibility cloak. We would arrive in Hogsmeade station in less that half an hour as the scenery was now recognisable.   
“I will see you guys later.” I said before quickly leaving the compartment. I flung my cloak over me and made my way to the slytherin compartment. I slipped in after Zabini who was leaving the train toilets. I quickly climbed into the luggage rack and listened.   
I looked down to my feet which I was sure my feet and ankles were showing as my cloak wrapped around them as I climbed up. I looked over at Draco who I was sure he noticed as he was looking up at me as I covered my feet. Draco's cold stare was diverted when Goyle slammed the door as Zabini sat down in his own seat. Vincent Crabbe returned to his comic and Malfoy, sniggering lay back down across the two seats with his head on Pansy Parkinson’s lap. I curled uncomfortable under the cloak to ensure I was completely hidden. I watched as Pansy stroked the sleek blond hair off Malfoy’s forehead, smirking as she did so, as though anyone would have loved to have been in her place. I would rather be sick. The lanterns swinging from the carriage ceiling cast a bright light over the scene below. I could read every word of Crabbe’s comic which was directly below me.  
“So, Zabini.” said Malfoy, “What did Slughorn want?”   
“Just trying to make up with well- connected people.” said Zabini, who was still glowering at Goyle. “Not that he managed to find many.”   
This information did not seem to sit well with Malfoy.   
“Who else had he invited?” he demanded.  
“McLaggen from Gryffindor.” said Zabini.  
“Oh yeah, his uncle is big in the Ministry.” said Malfoy.  
“- someone else called Belby from Ravenclaw.-”  
“Not him! He is a prat!” said Pansy.  
“- and Longbottom, Potter but he didn’t show up and that Weasley girl but there was also a girl who I have never seen before.” finished Zabini.  
“Malfoy sat up suddenly which ended up knocking Pansy’s hand aside.  
“He invited Longbottom?” Draco said. Tilting his head to the side.   
“Well I assume so as he was there.” said Zabini indifferently.   
“What has Longbottom got to interest Slughorn?” Draco asked, sounding very jealous.   
Zabini shrugged .  
“I wonder why Potter wasn’t there. He is probably sulking through the train listening to other people’s conversations.” Draco quipped, glancing towards me.   
“Who was the girl you did not know? What did she look like?” he asked, glancing back at Zabini.   
“I don’t know. But, she had long black hair, she was wearing mismatched clothes and she was extremely pale. It is funny though.”   
Draco raised his eyebrow.   
“She looks very similar to your godfather Professor Snape.” Zambini admitted. Draco looked intrigued.   
“Potter, precious Potter obviously he wanted a look at the Chosen One.” sneered Malfoy, “but, that Weasley girl! What is so special about her?”  
“A lot of the boys like her,” said Pansy, watching Malfoy out of the corner of the eye as she was facing the window. “Even you think she is good-looking, don’t you Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please!”  
“I would not touch a filthy blood traitor like her whatever she looked liked” said Zabini coldly, and Pansy looked pleased with herself. I just wanted to throw up at the thought of Blaise and Ginny together.   
“So, that girl, did you catch her name?” asked Malfoy who lay back down on Pansy’s lap and she continued to stroke it.   
“No, she never mentioned it. Slughorn asked her but she did not reply which I found odd.” said Zabini.   
“Well, we will find out shortly.” Malfoy replied. They all talked about how Malfoy wasn’t invited and that he might not be in Hogwarts next year. My head turned to concentrate on listening.   
“I might have - er - moved on to bigger and better things.” he simply said . My heart began to race. What would Ron and Hermione think about this? I saw that Crabbe and Goyle were gawping at Malfoy, they seemed to not have an inkling of any plans to move on to better things. I noticed that Zabini looked curious as well.   
“Do you mean, you know him?” said Pansy.   
Malfoy shrugged.   
“My mother wants me to complete my education, but personally, I do not think it is that important these days. I mean think about it… when the Dark Lord takes over which will be soon, is he going to care how many O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s anyone has got? Of course not. It will be all about the kind of service he received and the level of devotion he was shown.” continued Malfoy.   
“And you think you will be able to do something for him?” asked Zabini scathingly. “Sixteen years old and not fully qualified yet?”   
“I have just said haven’t I? Maybe he does not care if I am qualified. Maybe the job he wants me to do is not something I need to be qualified for.” said Malfoy quietly. I stopped breathing. He knew I was here. I can smell it in the air,  
“I can see Hogwarts, let’s get our robes on.” said Malfoy, who was clearly relishing the effect he had created as he pointed at the darkened window.   
I was busy staring at the ferret (Malfoy) that I did not notice Goyle reaching for his trunk. As Goyle swung his trunk down. I gasped out in pain as the trunk had hit my head. Malfoy looked up at the luggage rack and smirked. I drew my wand, careful I did not move the cloak. The train had come to a halt and I hoped that Ron and Hermione would take my luggage out with them.   
“You go on.” Malfoy told Pansy, who was waiting for him with her hand held out. I rolled my eyes. “I just need to check something.”   
Pansy left and me and Malfoy were left alone. I held my breath. I saw that people were filing past and descending onto the dark platform. Malfoy closed the door and pulled down the blinds. He then bent down over his trunk and opened it again. What was he hiding?   
I peered down over the edge of the luggage rack, my heart pumping faster and faster. What was he wanting to hide from Pansy?  
“Petrificus Totalus!”  
Without any warning, Malfoy pointed his wand at me and I was instantly paralyzed. I toppled out of the luggage rack and onto the cold floor of the compartment. My invisibility cloak came off but I was still in that uncomfortable position. Malfoy gave a laugh.   
“I thought so,” Malfoy said jubilantly. “I heard Goyle’s trunk hit you and I saw your little feet earlier.” Malfoy glanced at my white trainers. “That was you who was blocking the door when Zabini came back in, I suppose.?” Malfoy looked me over deep in thought.   
“You did not hear anything I care about, Potter. But while I got you here…”  
He stamped on my face and blood splattered everywhere.   
“That is from my father, Now let;s see…”   
Malfoy pulled the invisibility cloak from under me and placed it on me.   
“I don’t reckon they will find you till the train is back in Lindon.” he said quietly before leaving.   
I could not move a muscle. I lay there beneath the cloak feeling the blood drip down his cheek from his nose, I listened to the voices and footsteps in the corridor beyond. My first thought was that surely someone will check the compartments before the train leaves. The thought vanished once I realized that they wouldn’t see or hear me even if they did check the compartments. I have never hated Malfoy more than I do now. Everyone was outside and I started to panic. Hermione and Ron would think that I had left the train without them and my luggage. Once they had reached the great hall they would've realized I was not there and I would be going back to London.   
I tried to make a sound but nothing came out, I remembered that some wizards like Dumbledore and Snape (proven in my first year) can perform spells without their wand and without speaking, so I tried to summon my wand which had fallen out my hand. Nothing happened.  
The train lurched meaning that it was about to go. And nobody knew I was on it. If only I could groan. I felt my Invisibility cloak fly off me and a voice. “There you are,”   
There was a flash of red light and my body unfroze; I was able to push myself up in a more dignified position. I wiped my face in an attempt to wipe the blood off my face. I raised my head only to see the girl who was sitting beside us previously. How did she know I was there? She took my invisibility cloak in her arms as I stood up.   
“We should hurry up and get out of here. We will need to jump. I told you so.” She stated, as the train window became obscured with steam and the train began to move out of the station. I hurried after her into the corridor, She pulled open the door and leapt on to the platform which was sliding underneath him. I followed her and staggered on my feet a little. I straightened up to see the gleaming scarlet engine pick up more speed and round the corner and disappear from view. I sighed in relief.   
The cold air was soothing on my face, I looked over to see the girl was looking at me. It felt odd not knowing her name. I felt angry and embarrassed that he had been discovered in such a ridiculous position. She handed back my cloak. I took it.  
“Who did that to your face?” she asked, pointing at my blooded nose.   
“Draco Malfoy.” I said bitterly. She just looked away from me.   
“I can fix your nose.” She suggested, pointing her wand at me.   
I did not think much of this idea. I had intended to visit Madam Pomfrey. The person I had the utmost confidence in.   
“Episkey” She said.  
My nose felt hot and then cold. I felt it gingerly. It had seemed to be mended.   
“Thanks but how did you do that? You seem to be new to hogwarts.” I said.   
“I was homeschooled, that does not mean I know nothing.” she said. “You better but that cloak back on though until we get up to the school.” she said unsmiling. She did not look happy. She waved her wand and a silver doe came flying out of her wand and went into the darkness.   
“Why did you do that?” I asked. She was being really odd. She began to walk and I followed.   
“To alert that we are not at Hogwarts yet. You do know that they are taking extra precautions, It said in the letter.” she said as if I was stupid. I glared at her but she could not see and I put on my cloak.   
“I had obviously forgotten. What is your name anyway?” I asked quietly. She didn’t answer. We walked in silence and I had forgotten how long it would take to reach Hogwarts by foot, I had always taken a carriage.   
We finally reached the gates. I was cold, hungry, and I was quite keen to leave this girl's side. I put out a hand to push open the gates but it was locked by multiple chains. I groaned. Today is just not my day.   
“Alohomora!” I said confidently, pointing my wand at the padlock but nothing happened.   
“That will not work it seems but I can see someone approaching.” She said, pointing. I looked over to see none other than someone with greasy black hair with black robes march our way. I groaned and she looked at me weirdly. I pulled off my invisibility cloak so that I was seen.   
“Well, well, well” sneered Severus Snape, taking out his wand and tapping the padlock once so the chains snaked backwards and the gates opened with a bang. I walked in followed by the girl who I had just noticed changed into her robes. She didn’t have a house yet.   
“Nice of you to turn up, Potter, although you have evidently decided that the wearing of school robes would detract from your appearance.”  
“I could not change, I didn’t have my-” I began but Snape interrupted me.   
“Who is this?” he asked as he looked at the girl. She just looked away. He smirked.   
“Come on.” he sneered and walked ahead of us. The girl walked beside me quietly. She looked scared.   
“There is nothing to be scared of. Hogwarts is a good place.” I said, nudging her a bit. She glared at me.   
“I know. Can we please walk in silence. I can’t bear the sound of your voice.” said the girl. I was taken aback. She seemed to be on the defense.   
“I like this newcomer.” sneered Snape who was swinging the lantern from side to side when we walked. As we reached the castle steps. Snape turned to face us.  
“Fifty points from Gryffindor for lateness and let me see, another twenty points for your Muggle clothing. You may have set the record for having minus points for your house and we haven’t had dessert yet, Potter.”   
I felt the fury and hatred bubble up inside of me. I would have preferred to have been on my way back to London.   
“Now, what is your name girl?” asked Snape who was glaring at her. She looked up and back down.   
“Sevira Prince sir.” She said, quietly. She even has a similar first name. This was just odd. Snape seemed to have frozen slightly. Which never happened.   
“Well, whatever house you are placed in, you will lose 50 points for being late.” said Snape who turned quickly around and walked up the stairs. I could trip him up by standing on the back of hs black cloak. I decided not to. It will just make matters worse.   
I pulled out my Invisibility cloak so I could walk into the Great hall and no one could notice me.   
“No cloak. You can walk in so that everyone can see you. Which is what you want, I am sure. Now Prince, you will walk with me so we can sort you into your house.”  
I turned on the spot and marched into the great hall, anything to get away from him. I spotted Ron and Hermione and quickly walked towards them. I was ignoring the stares from the Hufflepuffs (who were apparently great finders according to Ron).   
“Where’ve you - What have you done to your face? Said Ron, who was googling at me with everyone else in vicinity.   
“Why, what’s wrong with it?” I said, grabbing a spoon and squinting at my distorted reflection.   
“You are covered in blood!” said Hermione. “Come here -”  
She raised her wand, said “Tergeo!” and siphoned off the dry blood.   
“Thanks.” I said taking a few chicken wings and some chips. But they vanished and were replaced with pudding. I groaned. I grabbed some cake.   
“You have missed the sorting anyway.” said Hermione, as Ron dived for the large chocolate gateau.  
“That girl on the train, her name is Sevira Prince. She is about to get sorted.” I commented as I glanced to the front of the Hall. She was sitting on the stool in front of Snape. Everyone looked at her.   
“Gryffindor!!!” the Hat exclaimed. The Gryffindor table clapped and yelled in glee. I slumped. That is 120 points taken away from us. Sevira stepped off the stool. She noticed me and walked towards me and sat down. Snape smirked. Hermione looked speechless.   
“For 200 years, no one from the house of Prince has ever been in Gryffindor” Hermione stated as she stared at Sevira. Sevira just looked around awkwardly. I tapped Hermione's food and she stopped staring.  
I looked over to see Dumbledore who was now walking towards the podium. The laughter in the room died instantly.   
“The very best of evenings to you!” he said, smiling broadly, his arms opened wide as if he was embracing the whole room.  
“What happened to his hand?” gasped Hermione.  
She was not the only one to notice. Dumbledore’s right hand was blackened and dead-looking as it had been on the night he took me to see Slughorn. I still did not know why he did that. Whispers swept the room; Dumbledore, interpreting them correctly. He shook his purple and gold sleeve to cover his hand.   
“Nothing to worry about,” he said airily. “Now … to our new students including the new 6th year, welcome; to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you... “   
“His hand was like that when I saw him over the summer.” I whispered to Hermione. “I thought he'd have cured it by now though… or Madam Pomfrey would’ve done.”  
“It looks like it has died” said Hermione, with a nauseated expression. “But there are some injuries you cannot cure and poisons without antidotes…” She trailed off in thought. I turned back to Dumbledore.   
“Those wishing to play for their house quidditch teams should give their names to their heads of house as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise.” He took a breath before continuing.   
“We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year: Professor Slughorn” Slughorn stood up and bowed slightly. “Who has agreed to resume his old post as Potions master.”  
I suddenly felt nauseous.   
“Potions?”said Ron and Hermione at the same time, turning to look at me.   
“Professor Snape, meanwhile, will be taking over the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.”  
“No!” I exclaimed about standing but Sevira grabbed my sleeve. I sat back down. Everyone was staring at me. I looked towards the table. How could Snape be given that position? Snape did not stand but lazily lifted his hand as acknowledgement of the applause from the Slytherin table, yet I was sure I could detect triumph on the features of the person I hated so much.   
Dumbledore cleared his throat. The whole hall had erupted in a buzz of conversation at the news that Snape had finally achieved his heart’s desire. Seemingly oblivious to the sensational nature of the news he had just imparted. Dumbledore said nothing more than staff appointments, but waited a few seconds to ensure that the silence was absolute before continuing on.  
“Now, as everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining strength.”   
Sevira started to fidget and move around. I looked over to her. She seemed nervous.   
“I cannot emphasise enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we all remain safe. The castle’s magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you therefore to abide any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them -” I swear Dumbledore was glancing at me.   
“- I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you conduct yourselves always, with the utmost regard for your own and each other's safety.”  
Dumbledore’s blue eyes swept over the students before he smiled once more.   
“But now, your beds await you, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well rested for your lessons, Pip Pip!”  
With the usual deafening scraping noise, the benches were moved back and the students around us began to file out the Great Hall towards their dormitories. Sevira stayed in her seat. I wasn’t in a hurry to leave with the loud crowd, nor do I want to get close enough to Malfot to allow him to retell the story of the nose-stamping. Once the majority of students left including Malfoy. Hermione, Ron, Sevira, and me stood up and made our way out of the hall. I glanced at the head table. Dumbledore was talking to Snape. I rolled my eyes. I noticed Hermione did not fulfil her Prefect duty but stayed with me. Sevira followed behind us.   
“What truly happened to your nose?” asked Ron once we were out of earshot of all the other students. I told him about all the incidents on the train. Ron did not laugh.   
“I saw Malfoy miming something to do with a nose.” he said darkly.  
“Yeah, well never mind that,” I said bitterly. “Listen to what he was saying before he found out I was there…”   
I had expected Ron to be stunned by Malfoy’s boasts. With what I considered was pigheadedness, however, Ron was unimpressed.   
“Come on, Harry, he was just showing off for Pansy … what kind of mission would You-Know-Who have given him” said Ron.   
“How’d you know Voldemort does not need someone at Hogwarts? It wouldn’t be the first-”  
“I wish yeh’d stop sayin’ tha’ name Harry '' someone said a voice from behind us. Hermione walked on so she could meet the first years in the common room. We turned to see Hagrid who was shaking his head.  
“But, Dumbledore uses that name,” I said stubbornly.   
“Yeah, well tha’s Dumbledore, innit?” said Hagrid mysteriously. “Why were you late Harry, I was worried”   
“Got held up on the train,” I said. “Why were you late?”  
“I was with Grawp,” said Hagrid happily. “Los’ track o’ the time, Dumbledore fixed his home, Nice big cave, he is happier.” Hagrid said smiling, ``He looked beside me and glanced at Sevira. “New student I see. What is yer name?”   
“Sevira Prince.” she quietly said, looking down at the cold stone floor.   
“Nice to meet ye'''’” said Hagrid. “See yeh tomorrow, firs’ lesson straight after Lunch. You can say hello to buck- Witherwings'' he raised an arm in cheery farewell and he headed out into the darkness.   
Ron and I looked at each other and I saw that we were both having a sinking feeling.  
“You’re not taking Care of Magical Creatures, are you?” I asked, Ron shook his head.  
“You aren’t either, are you?”   
I shook my head, too.  
“And Hermione?” asked Ron, I just shook my head.   
“I am taking it.” Came a small voice from beside us. I looked to see Sevira staring at us. I smiled but couldn’t help feeling sorry for Hagrid. I don’t want to see how he would react that three of his favourite students were not taking his class.


	2. The Old Book.

The next day, me and Ron had decided to meet Hermione in the Gryffindor common room before breakfast in the great hall. Me and Ron throughout the night discussed who Sevira was and why she came to Hogwarts now. She seemed odd to me. I was hoping for some support on my Malfoy theory. I told Hermione what I had overheard on the train.   
“C’mon, he was obviously trying to show off for Parkinson” interjected Ron, before Hermione was able to reply to me.   
“Well … I don’t know … it would be like Malfoy to make him seem more important than her is but that is a big lie to tell …”  
“Exactly!” I said with triumph. I could not press my point further as I noticed that so many people were trying to listen in to our conversation, not to forget that they were also staring and whispering about me, I groaned in frustration. I looked around to see Sevira sitting on one of the armchairs across from the fire.  
“Are you not joining for breakfast in the Great Hall?” I asked her quietly. Ron and Hermione looked at her also.   
“No, I don’t eat breakfast at home so why should I do so here.” she said, not looking up from her book.   
“Because you are hungry?” I suggested. Hermione and Ron looked around unpationetly and I noticed everyone had left the common room apart from us four.   
“You two go for breakfast and I will stay here. I am not hungry anyway.” I said winking at them. Maybe if I get to know Sevira more, I will figure out more about her and why she was here. Ron and Hermione left uncertainty which left me and Sevira alone. I sat on the armchair beside her and looked at the orange blaze that warmed me quickly.   
“So, why are you at Hogwarts after being homeschooled for so long?” I asked, taking a glance at her.   
“My parents died. Is this going to be an interrogation? You may as well just leave.” She replied, still not looking up from her book. I slumped a little.   
“I am sorry to hear that.” I replied sympathetically. I knew what it felt like to lose family. I grew up with the Dursleys because of my parents death by Lord Voldemort. I shivered.   
“It is the circle of life, Potter.” she stated, finally closing her book and staring at the fire.   
“My name is Harry, Potter is what Snape and Draco calls me.” I replied with annoyance. I got no reply.   
“Oh Harry there you are!” Professor McGonagal came round the corner in a flurry of green robes. I stood up instantly. She was holding pieces of parchment. “Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration … all fine. I must say, I was pleased with your Transfiguration mark. Now why did you not apply to continue with potions or is it not your wish to become an auror?”  
“It was but I was told I had to get an O in my O.W.L, Professor.” I replied.   
“And so you did when Professor Snape was teaching the subject. Professor Slughorn is perfectly happy to accept N.E.W.T students with ‘Exceeds Expectations’ at O.W.L. Do you wish to proceed with Potions?”   
“Yes” I said, “but I don’t have any books or ingredients or anything.”   
“I am sure Slughorn will lend you some, now here is your timetable… Ah Miss Prince. Our new student, what subjects are you taking this year? I hear from your aunt that you are good at Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions. Is that what you will like to do?” asked Professor Mcgonagall how had turned to face Sevira.  
“Yes, I would also want to take Care of magical creatures, Charms, and Transfiguration” she wondered. Professor McGonagall was writing on the parchment with a smirk on her face. She passed it onto Sevira when she was finished.   
“I am sorry Sevira, Care for Magical Creatures overlaps with Defence Against the dark arts. But Herbology doesn’t if you wish to take that.” she suggested. Sevira looked gutted but nodded. We were in all the same classes. I suppose it was a good thing so I could keep an eye on her. Professor McGonagall left quickly after that.   
Ron came running through the door with an excited grin on his face.   
“Please, tell me you are all in the same classes as me and that we have a free period right now?” Ron asked, jumping up and down with a fanged frisbee.   
“Yes we are but we have Defence Against the Dark arts with Snape next.” I said slumping in my chair. Sevira opened her book and Ron began to throw the frisbee which made Crookshanks hiss whenever it got too close to him.   
An hour later, me and Ron reluctantly left the common room to go to Defence Against The Dark Arts which was four floors below. Sevira looked happy she was going. I suppose it is because she seems to excel in the subject according to Professor McGonagall. Hermione was already outside, carrying an armful of heavy books and looked put-upon.  
“We got so much homework for Runes.” she said anxiously. When me and Ron and Sevira joined her. “A fifteen-inch essay, two translations and I’ve got to read these by Wednesday!”  
“Shame” yawned Ron.  
“Do you want help holding your books?” Sevira asked quietly. Hermione looked at her and smiled gently.   
“Yes, please. Thank you so much.” she said, giving Sevira some of her books to carry.   
“Just you wait” she said resentfully, “I bet Snape gives us loads”.  
The classroom door opened as she spoke and Snape came out into the corridor, his sallow face framed as ever by two curtains of greasy black hair similar to Sevira’s but hers was longer and suited her face more. Silence fell over the students who were queued outside.  
“Inside.” he said.  
We walked in and I looked around the classroom. Snape had imposed his personality upon the room already; it was gloomier than usual as the curtains had been drawn over the windows, and was lit by only the candlelight. The pictures on the wall were people in pain. I sat beside Sevira who had given Hermione's book of ‘Confronting the Faceless’ and Ron was sitting with Hermione. The class around us pulled out their books.  
“I have not asked you to take out your books,” said Snape, closing the door and moving to face the class from behind his desk. Everyone put their books back in their bags or under their tables. “I wish to speak to you and I want your fullest attention”  
His eyes roved over the students' faces, lingering for a fraction of a second longer on me and Sevira who was sitting beside me clasping her hands together.   
“You have had five teachers in this subject so far I believe”   
‘You believe … like you haven't watched all of them come and go, Snape, hoping you’d be next,’ I thought scathingly.   
“Naturally, these teachers will have had their own methods and priorities. Given the confusion I am surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L. in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work, which will be more advanced.”  
Snape made his way to the edge of the room, speaking now in a lower voice. The class craned their necks to see him.  
“The dark arts are many varied, ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which each time a neck is Severed -” Sevira moved her neck from side to side as she was in pain. I looked at her.  
“Are you alright?” I whispered, leaning towards her slightly.   
“Yes I am fine.” She replied quietly.   
“- Now you are, I believe, are complete novices in the use of non-verbal spells.What is the advantage of a non-verbal spell?” asked Snape who was standing behind his desk now, Hermione’s had shot right up into the air. Snape looked around.   
“Let’s see. Sevira.” he called upon. Sevira looked up and tucked her hair behind her hair.   
“That those who progress to using magic, without shouting incantations can gain an element of surprise in their spell casting.” She replied suddenly. Snape looked at her. I swear I saw a flash of surprise on his face before going back to his cold demeanor. Everyone looked at her.   
“Correct. 5 points to Gryffindor.” Several gasps were heards all over the room. I smiled at her but she looked back towards the table. Snape walked towards her.   
“Tell me Miss Prince, how do you know that since you were homeschooled?” He asked. He seemed surprised and shocked he had to give points to his most hated house. I felt a bit smug.  
“My mother taught me about it last year. I did not learn about non-verbal spells as she wanted a more educated wizard or witch to teach me.” she replied honestly. Looking at him. Interesting. I suddenly felt glad she was my partner in this class. I sighed quietly. Snape looked at her.  
“You will now divide into pairs. One partner will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Carry on.” Snape walked to his desk and sat down. Me and Sevira stood across from each other. What Snape did not know is that last year I had taught half this class the shield charm and people were cheating. Suddenly, I was knocked back into the wall. I couldn’t stop it. Sevira did not utter a single word. Snape made his way towards us but stopped to talk to Draco. Sevira walked across to help me up.  
“I am sorry for hurting you there.” she apologised. I nodded as I took her hand and stood up.  
We faced each other. Sevira pointed her wand towards me and I did as well.   
“Protego!” I yelled and Sevira went flying into a desk breaking one. She yelped in pain and Snape was walking towards me quicker than a whippet. Hermione rushed over to help Sevira up. She smiled at me which said to me that ‘everything is fine.’   
“Do you remember me telling you we are practising non-verbal spells Potter?” sneered Snape.   
“Yes” I said, stiffly. I felt the guilt of hurting someone.   
“Yes, Sir” Snape corrected.   
“There is no need to call me ‘sir’, Professor.”  
The words had left my mouth before I could stop them. Several people gasped, including Hermione and Sevira. However Ron, Dean and Seamus grinned appreciatively.   
“Detention, Saturday night, my office. I do not take cheek from anyone Potter … not even from the Chosen One.” he sneered. Sevira stood beside me.   
“He didn’t ask to be the chosen one, Professor.” she stated. She was defending me? Why?   
“Defending him are we? Looks like you found a girlfriend, Potter.” He mocked, he walked away. I just stood there in anger. Sevira looked at me.   
“Now, we will try again.” she said pointing her wand towards me. I tried my best but ended up failing at it.  
“That was brilliant Harry!” chortled Ron, once we were on our way to break a while later.  
“You really should not have said it,” said Hermione, frowning at Ron. “What made you?”  
“I had enough of him sneering at me and treating me like I am nothing.” I replied simply. Sevira who was walking beside me holding a few of Hermione’s books.   
“I forgot to thank you for defending me” I thanked her but she just smiled.   
“And what is he doing teaching Defence? Did you hear him talking about the Dark Arts? He loves them! All that unfixed, indestructible stuff -”   
“Well,” said Hermione, “I thought he sounded a bit like you.” she continued which made me stop for a second before continuing to walk.   
“Like me?”   
“Yes, when you were telling us what it is like to face Voldemort. You said it was not just memorising a bunch of spells, you said it was just you and your brains and your guys - well isn't that what Snape was saying? That it really comes down to being brave and quick-thinking?” she said with a slight smile.   
“I don’t want to be compared with him” I started feeling disarmed that she thought my words were as well worth mesmerizing as the standard book of spells.  
“He is a powerful wizard.” Sevira stated as she walked beside us. I knew he was from last year.   
“Harry!” came a voice from behind us.  
I turned around to see Jack Sloper rushing towards him with a roll of parchment.   
“For you.” panted Sloper. “Listen, I heard you are the new captain. When are you holding trials?”   
“I am not sure yet Jack” I said while thinking he would be extremely lucky to make it on the team. Jack continued to talk but I wasn’t listening. I recognised the slanted writing on the parchment. I quickly turned and walked away, I was quickly followed by Hermione, Ron, and Sevira. I read the parchment as I walked. 

Dear Harry and Sevira,  
I would like to start private lessons this Saturday. Kindly come along to my office at eight pm. I hope you guys are enjoying your First day back at school.  
Yours sincerely,   
Albus Dumbledore  
P.S. I enjoy acid pops.

“He enjoys Acid Pops?” said Ron who was reading over my shoulder and was looking perplexed.   
“It is the password to get into the headmaster's study. I wonder why you are invited Sevira.” I said in a low voice. What would Dumbledore want with her? Sevira just shrugged. “Ha! Snape is not going to be pleased… I won’t be able to do the detention” I exclaimed happily.   
We spent the whole break speculating on what Dumbledore is going to teach me and Sevira. Sevira wasn’t taking part in the speculating. She was reading her book which she has nearly finished. Ron thought it most likely to be spectacular jinxes and hexes of the type that death eaters won’t know. Hermione said such things were and are illegal and though it was more likely that Dumbledore wanted to teach me and Sevira advanced defensive magic. After break, Hermione went to Arithmancy while me, Ron, and Sevira started our homework, Snape gave us in the common room. For me and Ron found it difficult but Sevira flew through it. She sat beside me and helped whenever I asked for it. She helped Ron as well. Hermione walked in for their after lunch free period and was surprised we had finished before her. I smiled. She finished on the bell for double potions and we made our way down to the dungeons in utter silence. When we arrived in the corridor, we saw that there were only a dozen people progressing to N.E.W.T. level. Crabbe and Goyle had failed to achieve the required O.W.L. grade but four Slytherins had made it through, including Malfoy, four Ravenclaws were also there and one Hufflepuff Ernie Macmillan, who I liked despite his pompous manner. Sevira stood awkwardly beside Hermione as we waited.   
“Harry,” Ernie said portentously, holding out his hand, “did not get a chance to speak in Defence Against The Dark Arts this morning. Good lesson, I thought, but Shield charms are old hat, of course, for us old DA lags … and how are you, Ron… Hermione?”  
Before we could even answer, the dungeon door opened and Slughorn came out. As we filed into the room, Slughorn greeted me, Zabini, and Sevira with more enthusiasm.  
The dungeon was, most unusually, already full of vapours and odd smells. Ron, Hermione, Sevira, and myself sniffed interestedly as we passed large bubbling cauldrons. The four Slytherins took a table together, as did the four Ravenclaws. This left me, Hermione, Ron, and Sevira a table. Ernie had to squeeze in with the Ravenclaws. We chose the table nearest a golden coloured cauldron that was emitting one of the most seductive scents I have ever inhaled; it reminded me of the smell of new books, roses, and wood and even grass. I don’t know where I had smelled it from before. I grinned at Ron who smiled lazily back. I looked at Sevira who was completely expressionless.   
“Now then, now then, now then,” said Slughorn who we could barely see through the vapours. ”Scales out, everyone, and potion kits and don’t forget your copies of advanced potion making…”   
“Sir?” I said, raising my hand.   
“Harry, m’boy?”  
“I haven’t got a book or scales or anything - nor’s Ron - we did not realise we would be able to do N.E.W.T. you see - “   
“Ah yes, Professor McGonagall did mention … not to worry my dear boy, not to worry at all. You can use ingredients from the store cupboard until you can write to flourish and blotts.” Slughorn strode over to the corner cupboard and after a moment foraging emerged with very battered-looking copies of Advanced Potion-making by Libatius Borage, which he gave to me and Ron along with two sets of tarnished scales.   
“Now then,” said Slughorn, returning to the front of the class. “I’ve prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kinds of things you ought to be able to make after completing your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of ‘em, even if you haven’t made them yet. Anyone tell me what this one is?”   
He indicated the cauldron nearest the Slytherin table. I raised myself slightly in my seat and saw what looked like plain water boiling away inside it. No one raised their hands. Sevira raised her hand slowly and Slughorn pointed at her with a beaming smile.   
“It is Veritaserum, a colourless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth” said Sevira.   
“Very good!” said Slughorn happily. “Now,” he continued as he pointed at the nearest Ravenclaw cauldron. “This one here is pretty well-known … featured in a few Ministry leaflets lately too… who can -?”  
This time Hermione’s hand shot up.  
“It’s Polyjuice Potion, sir,” she said.  
I also had recognised the slow bubbling, mud like substance in the second cauldron, but I didn’t resent Hermione getting the credit for answering the question; she was the one who succeeded in making it in our second year.   
“Excellent! Now, this one here… yes my dear?” said Slughorn, now looking slightly bemused as Hermione’s hand shot up in the air.  
“It is Amortentia!”  
“It is indeed. It seems almost foolish to ask.” said Slughorn,who was looking impressed, “but I assume you know what it does?”  
“It is the most powerful love potion in the world!” said Hermione.  
“Quite right! You recognised it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother of pearl sheen?”   
“And the steam rising in characteristic spirals” said Hermione enthusiastically, “and it is supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us and I can smell freshly mown grass and new parchment and -”   
But she turned slightly pink and did not complete the sentence.  
“May I please ask what your name is?” asked Slughorn, who seemed to not notice Hermione’s embarrassment.   
“Hermione Granger, sir?”  
“Granger? Are you related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the most extraordinary society of potioneers?”  
“No, I don’t think so, sir. I am a muggleborn, you see.”  
“She is related to him.” Interrupted Sevira who was looking at Hermione. Hermione looked at her and smiled.   
“Really? How do you know that?” Hermione asked her.   
“Family trees. A book in the library talked about Hector’s Dagworth-Granger’s family tree. Your father’s name is Martin Granger correct?” Sevira wondered. Hermione nodded.  
“According to Hector’s family tree Mr Granger is his great great grandson.” she stated and Hermione smiled.   
“That is fantastic! No wonder you are so talented!” Slughorn exclaimed. “You are very lucky to have a friend that knows that”   
“I am, sir.” Hermione replied softly. She looked at Sevira with a gentle smile and Sevira looked down again.   
I wondered if Sevira was related to someone who was talented at Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts. She had to be.   
“Well, take twenty well earned points to Gryffindor, Miss Granger” Slughorn said with a smile.   
I looked over at Malfoy who looked like he had just been punched in the face. I smiled.   
“Amortentia doesn’t really create love, of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. It is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in the room, now it is time to get to work!” continued Slughorn. Sevira pointed to a cauldron.   
“Sir, you haven’t told us what is in this one” Sevira said. I stretched my neck to get a better look. The potion in question was splashing about merrily, it was the colour of molten gold, and large drops were leaping out of the cauldron.   
“Oh yes, that one ladies and gentlemen, is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis. I take it.” He turned to smile at Hermione who let out a gasp. “That you know what Felix Felicis does Miss Granger?”  
“It is Liquid luck” Hermione said excitedly. “It makes you lucky!”  
The whole class seemed to sit up straighter as if to get a better look in the cauldron. Now all I could see of Malfoy was the back of his head, because he was giving Slughorn his full attention.   
“Quite right, take another ten points for Gryffindor. Yes, it is a funny little potion, Felix Felicis,” Slughorn said. “Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavours tend to succeed … at least until the effects wear off.”  
“Why don’t people drink it all the time then, sir?” Terry boot, who was a ravenclaw asked eagerly.  
“Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness and dangerous overconfidence.” said Slughorn. “Too much of a good thing you know… highly toxic in large quantities but taken occasionally is fine. I have taken it twice, those were two brilliant days…” he said dreamily. I didn’t know if he was acting but the effect was good. “And that” Slughorn said, coming back to earth, “is what I shall be offering as a prize in this lesson.”  
There was a silence in the room which made every noise from the cauldron seem louder than it was.   
“One tiny bottle of Felix Felicis. Enough for twelve hours. So by, turning to page ten in your books. We have a little over an hour left to us which shall be enough to make Draught of the Living Death. I know it is more complex than usual so I don’t expect a perfect potion from anyone in this room. The person who does best, however, will win little Felix here. Off you go”  
There was scraping as everyone drew their cauldrons towards them, as everyone drew their cauldrons towards them, and some loud clunks as people began adding weights to their scales, but nobody spoke. The concentration in the room was almost tangible. I saw that Malfoy was rifling feverishly through his copy of Advanced Potion-making. I could tell that he wanted that lucky day which made me want it more. I opened my tattered book that Slughorn gave me. To my annoyance the previous owner of this book had scribbled all over the pages, so that the margins were as black as the printed portions. Bending low to decipher the ingredients, even the previous owner had made annotations and crossed things out. I hurried off to the storage cupboard followed quickly followed by Sevira. I grabbed what I needed and quickly walked back to my cauldron. I noticed that everyone kept glancing around to see what the rest of the class was doing: this was both an advantage and a disadvantage of potions, that it was hard to keep your work private.  
Within ten minutes, the whole room was full of bluish steam. I looked over at Hermione who seemed to have progressed further than most but Sevira was following close behind her.   
I finished chopping his roots, I bent low over the scribbled over book. It was rather irritating, having to try and decipher the direction under all the writing. For some reason the previous owner wrote an alternative instruction.   
‘Crush with the flat side of a silver dagger, releases juice better than cutting.’  
“Can I borrow your silver knife? I asked, turning to look at Hermione. She handed me it without taking her eyes off her potion. She looked worried as her potion was supposed to be turning a light shade of lilac by now. I crushed the bean with the flat side of the knife. To my surprise, it let out so much juice. I scooped it all up and dropped it in the potion and just as it said in the book, it turned to the correct shade of lilac. My annoyance with the previous owner vanished. I looked over to Sevira’s who’s potion looked the exact same as mine. I smirked. I now squinted at the next line of instructions. According to the book, I had to stir clockwise until the potion turned clear as water, but according to the addition from the previous owner had made, however, I ought to add a clockwise stir after every seventh counter-clockwise stir.   
I stirred counter-clockwise, I held my breath, and stirred once clockwise. The effect was immediate. The potion turned a palest pink. I looked back at Sevira and noticed her book wasn’t even open and her potion was the exact same colour as mine. There was no way she was looking over my shoulder as I had my book out of her view. Odd. Very strange I thought. I continued to stir in deep thought.  
“How are you doing that?” Hermione demanded, who was now red-faced and her hair was growing bushier and bushier in the fumes from her cauldron. Her potion was still purple.  
“Add a clockwise stir -”  
“No, no, the book says counter clockwise!” she snapped in response.   
I shrugged and continued on what I was doing. Across the table Ron was cursing fluently under his breath; his potion looked like liquid liquorice. I glanced around and as far as I could see no one else’s except Sevira’s turned as pale as mine. I felt elated as this has never happened before in this dungeon.   
“And time’s… up!” called Slughoen. “Stop stirring, please!”   
Slughorn moved slowly between the tables, peering into cauldrons. He made no comment, but occasionally gave the potions a stir. At last he reached the table where we sat. He smiled ruefully at Ron’s cauldron. He gave Hermione an approving nod. He then saw mine and Sevira’s and a look of incredulous delight spread over his face.   
“The clear winners!” he cried to the dungeon and I beamed at Sevira who gave a small smile.   
“Excellent, you two! Good lord, it is clear you have inherited your aunt's talent Sevira, she was a dab at Potions and so was your mother Harry. Here you are, since two of you won, you will both get a small bottle of Felicis. Use it well” he passed us the two bottles. Sevira took it but placed it in her pocket and so did I. I looked at all the Slytherins faces who all looked furious and at Hermione’s disappointed look. Ron looked shocked.   
“How did you do that?” he whispered to me as we left the dungeon.   
“Got lucky, I suppose,” I said as I noticed that Malfoy was in earshot.   
Once we were in the Great Hall for dinner at the Gryffindor table, I felt safe enough to tell the three of them. Hermione’s face became stonier with every word I uttered. Sevira looked impressed.   
“I s’pose you think I cheated?” I finished, aggravated by her expression.   
“It wasn’t your own work, was it?” she replied stiffly.   
“He only followed different instructions to ours.” Ron said. “Could’ve been a disaster, couldn’t it? But he took a risk and it paid off.” He sighed. “Slughorn could have handed me that book but no, I get the one no one has ever written in.” Ron looked a bit bummed out he didn’t get it.  
“Here is my Felix Felicis. I don’t need it.” Sevira held the small bottle towards Ron who was sitting across from her. Ron looked at her with surprise.   
“What? Me? Why?” He asked while taking it gingerly.   
“Because you deserve it.” Sevira replied honestly. As she reached over to get some Potatoes, I got a waft of roses I had smelled earlier in the dungeons. Ginny approached us and looked at the tattered book as she sat beside Hermione.   
“Hang on, are you taking orders from something written in a book, Harry?” Ginny asked, looking alarmed and angry. I knew what she was thinking at once.   
“It’s nothing.” I said, reassuringly, lowering my voice. “It is not like the riddle’s diary. It is just an old textbook someone had scribbled in.”   
“But you are doing what it says?”  
“I just tried a few of the tips written in the margins, honestly Ginny, there is nothing funny about it.”  
“Ginny has a point.” Hermione said, perking up at once. “We ought to check there is nothing odd about it. I mean, all these funny instructions. Who knows?” She grabbed the book off me and I tried to get it back.  
“Hey!” I exclaimed as she raised her wand.   
“Specialis revelio!” she said, rapping it smartly on the front cover.  
Nothing happened, the book simply lay there, looking old and dirty.   
“Finished?” I asked irritably. “Or d’you want to wait and see if it does some backflips?”   
“It seems all right.” said Hermione who was still staring at the book in suspicion. “I mean, it really does seem like a textbook.”  
“Good, I will have it back then.” I said, snatching it off her but it slipped onto the stone floor. Sevira turned at the same time as I did and picked it up.   
“This book is the property of the Half-blood Prince.” She read off the back cover. She then looked through the book and gave it back to me. I snatched it out of her grasp. She smirked and finished her dinner.   
We made our way back to the Gryffindor Common room after dinner. I was tired but I didn’t want to go to bed at 9pm. Sevira and Hermione had decided to go to their dormitories and me and Ron stayed in the armchairs in front of the fire.   
“So, what do you think of Sevira” I asked Ron quietly in case anyone heard. The common room only had Neville, Seamus, Katie Bell and Ginny but they were in the other far corner.   
“She seems alright. A bit odd though.” Ron replied, looking deep in thought as he stared into the fire.   
“She didn’t have her potions book open at all today and was able to do non-verbal magic instantly. Whoever homeschooled her was one talented witch or wizard.” I said. Ron looked at me with surprise.   
“I never thanked her for giving me Felix Felicis. She does seem nice enough, I mean she defended you from Snape. That has got to mean she is good at least.” Ron wondered.  
“I don’t think she wants to be thanked.Is she being nice for a reason? She doesn’t seem like a person who wants to have friends.” I shrugged as I spoke. Ron sighed.   
“You have to stop assuming the worst of people Harry. She might be a good asset to you when you have to fight Voldemort again.” Ron grimaced as he spoke the Dark lord's name. I just rubbed my eyes.  
“Hey guys!” someone said from behind the chairs. I looked around to see Neville holding his toad trevor.   
“Hey Neville,” me and Ron said in unison. Neville looked happy which was a rare occurrence.  
“Guess what happened today!” He said, jumping up and down slightly. Me and Ron looked at him puzzled. “They remembered me. My parents remembered me!” He said, beaming to ear to ear. I stood up suddenly and so did Ron.   
“Neville, that is amazing!” I exclaimed, pulling him into a quick hug. Neville’s parents were tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange just when he was a baby and they seemed to not fully recover until now.   
“I am so happy for you bud.” Ron said, hitting Nevilles arm affectionately. Neville walked off back to Ginny. Me and Ron sat back down with smiles on our faces. Neville deserved this. If all the people in the world deserved to be happy it was him.  
The next morning was quiet. We all walked down to breakfast together. I kept my eye on Sevira who was reading whilst she was eating her cereal. I felt a nudge from Ron who was looking at me with an annoyed look.   
“Who do you think the Half-Blood Prince is?” Ron asked as he stuffed his mouth with fried eggs. I shrugged.   
“The handwriting looks like Professor Snape's,” Sevira said, closing her book gently. I nearly choked on my orange juice. It does look like his but surely he wouldn’t call himself such a silly nickname.   
“Don’t be silly. It isn’t him besides that book looks 50 years old at least and Snape is only 36.” Hermione started with a look of disgust as she just looked at Ron eating his food.   
“Snape’s 36? I thought he was fifty” I said, looking shocked. Ron laughed and so did Hermione. Sevira didn’t. She looked offended for a few seconds but her expression changed to neutral after she noticed I had seen. Odd.  
“Snape went to school with your parents Harry. He would have been 21 when they had died. So that makes him 31 when you come to Hogwarts. Wizards. You never do maths.” Hermione sniggered.  
“For have you know, my mother taught all of us maths. We wizards know as much as muggles do.” Ron scoffed.  
“What is 5x8 then Ron?” Hermione asked, looking at him. I couldn’t help but laugh at the look of confusion on Ron’s face.  
“123?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Hermione burst out laughing and so did I.   
“Stop laughing at him. Maths is a difficult thing to learn.” Sevira interjected which stopped Hermione to stop laughing and look at Ron who looked quite sad. I stopped laughing when I noticed.  
“Sorry Ron, for laughing. It is 40.” She said, giving him a gentle smile.   
“I like her!” Ron exclaimed with a smile as he pointed at Sevira. I smiled knowing that Sevira was now part of our friend group. I mean how could she not be. She seemed so nice.  
The next Defence Against the Dark Arts was not any better than the last. I still seemed to get on Snape’s bad side.   
“Right, partner up and practise your non-verbal spells.” Snape instructed. I groaned as I stood across from Sevira who I knew was taking it easier on me. I didn’t like the feeling of failure. Especially in this class which I used to succeed at. That was proven when I taught the DA.   
“Protego!” I shouted and instantly cursed myself as Sevira fell back but instantly got back up. Everyone looked at me again.   
“Right, how about you cast a non-verbal jinx to me and I will try to repel it” she suggested, I nodded. I pointed my wand at her and she did the same. I tried to cast a knockback jinx which seemed to work as she repelled which caused me to to fly back. Snape was standing beside Sevira as I stood up, smirking a little.   
“Well… done Sevira. You seem to know how to cast non-verbal spells but you are failing to teach Potter to do the same.” he sneered at her which caused her to step back a little.   
“I am not the teacher here, sir.” She replied, sarcastically. Snape glared at her and at me when I sniggered.   
“Detention on Saturday with Potter.” He stalked off before I could reply telling him we could not make it. I can’t wait until he finds out we can’t come to his silly detention. Sevira looked saddened but we continued.   
She flew off her feet as I repelled her jinx. I had finally done it. I casted a non verbal repel spell. Sevira smiled at me. And I felt pleased with myself for once in this class.


	3. The Opening up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW// Mentions of Domestic violence!!

For the rest of the Potion’s lessons, I continued to use the tattered book that was scribbled on by the Half-Blood Prince. Sevira, still was not needing to open her textbook which got Slughorn really curious.  
“Tell me, Miss Prince. How do you know these potions by heart? Even I can’t do it sometimes without instructions.” Slughorn asked, standing beside her. She looked up and smiled.  
“My aunt taught me everything I needed to know about potions before coming here.” She said.   
“Oh, Eileen Prince was a fantastic student in potions. She seemed so talented that I was shocked to hear of her marriage to a muggle.” Slughorn said without much thought. Hermione seemed to stop what she was doing and look at Sevira.   
By the fourth lesson, Slughorn kept on cheering me on as according to him, I had extreme talent which made Hermione scoff. Hermione had resolutely ploughing through the ‘official’ instructions but became more bad-tempered as her potions were poorer than the prince’s/mine. I wondered who the Half-Blood Prince had been. Although with the amount of homework we were getting, I barely had the time to read all of my copy of Advanced Potion-making. I had only skimmed through the pages. I realised that not all of his notes were potions but defense spells. So, the Prince made up his own spells. Fascinating.   
“Or herself,” Hermione said, overhearing me pointing some of these out to Ron in the Common room on the Saturday evening. “It might have been a girl. I think the handwriting looked more like a girls than a boy’s/”  
“The Half-Blood Prince, he was called. How many girls have been Princes.?” I asked Hermione.  
Hermione seemed not to be able to think of an answer to my question as she scowled and twitched her essay on ‘The Principles of Remarterialisation’ away from Ron who was trying to read it upside down.   
I looked at my watch and quickly put the potion book in my bag. I nudged Sevira who was doing her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework.  
“It’s five to eight. We’d better go or we will be late for Dumbledore.” I said as Sevira stood up and grabbed her bag.   
“Good luck! We will wait up to hear about what he teaches you guys!” She said.   
“Hope it goes OK,” said Ron, and the pair of them watched us as we left. We walked through the deserted corridors, though we had to step behind a statue when Professor Trelawney appeared round a corner, muttering to herself as she shuffled a pack of playing cards as she walked.   
“Two of spades: conflict,” she murmured. Sevira was beginning to get impatient. Trelawney passed where we were crouching. “Seven of spades: an ill omen. Ten of spades: violence. Knave of spades: a dark young man, possibly troubled, one who dislikes the questioner -”   
She stopped dead, right on the other side of the statue we were hiding behind.   
“Well that can’t be right,” she said, annoyed and she began to reshuffle her cards and set off down the corridor. We waited until I was sure she had gone and then we hurried off again until we reached the spot in the seventh floor corridor where a single gargoyle stood against the wall.   
“Acid pops,” I said. The gargoyle leapt aside; the wall behind it slid apart and a moving spiral stone staircase was revealed on to which we stepped so that we were carried in smooth circles up to the door with the brass knocker that led to Dumbledore’s office. I knocked and Sevira stood several steps behind me.   
“Come in” said the voice of Dumbledore.   
“Good evening, sir” I said as we both walked into the Headmasters office. Sevira just smiled weakly and stood beside me.   
“Ah good evening, Harry and Sevira. Sit down.” Dumbledore said, smiling. We both walked up and sat down.   
“Yes, thanks, sir” I said.   
“You guys must have been busy, a detention already!”   
Sevira shrunk in her seat a little bit.  
“Er….” I began awkwardly, but Dumbledore did not seem to look that stern in fact he looked pleased.   
“I have arranged with Professor Snape that you will both do your detention next Saturday instead.”   
“Right.” I said not really caring. I had more pressing matters on my mind than Snape’s detention. I looked at Dumbledore hoping he would elaborate why he wanted me and Sevira here. The circular office looked just as it always did: the delicate silver instruments stood on spindle legged tables, puffing smoke and whirring; portraits of headmasters and headmistresses dozed in their frames; and Dumbledore’s magnificent phoenix, Fawkes, who stood on his perch behind the door watching every movement Sevira took. It did not even look like Dumbledore moved anything for duelling practice.   
“Sevira, how are you finding it here at Hogwarts?” Dumbledore asked, looking at her over his half moon spectacles.  
“Fine. May I ask sir, why am I here?” she asked. Dumbledore smiled.   
“To simply put it, we need you. You are a natural Legilimens.” Dumbledore stated. I looked at Sevira in surprise. So all this time she was able to read my mind with ease and I didn’t know. Sevira still looked confused. “Harry’s lessons with Professor Snape failed so I am hoping as Harry seems to like you more than him, that he will be able to teach Harry how to shield his mind. But I also want you to know everything Harry learns as it is important that Harry is not fighting this so-called battle himself.” Dumbledore continued with a slight smile. Sevira looked at me but didn’t say anything. I just slumped in my chair. I hated those lessons.   
“So, you are wondering what you guys are doing here I am sure and what I have planned for these… lessons.?”  
“Yes. Sir.” I said, smiling a little.   
“Well, I have decided that it is time, now that you know what prompted Lord Voldemort to try and kill you fifteen years ago, for you to be given certain information.”   
There was a pause.   
“You said, at the end of last term, you were going to tell me everything” I said. It was hard to keep a note of accusation from my voice. “Sir,” I added.  
“And so I did,” Dumbledore said placidly. “I told you everything I know. From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory in thickets of guesswork. From heron in Harry, I may be wrong as Humphrey Belcher, who believed the time was ripe for a cheese cauldron” Sevira chuckled slightly at Dumbledore's choice of words. He smiled at her.   
“But you think you are right?” I asked.   
“Naturally I do, but as I have already proven to you. I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be huger.”  
“Snape is a clever man, is he not?” Sevira asked. I looked at her confused.   
“I suppose he is clever, Sevira. Why do you ask that?” Dumbledore asked, looking rather perplexed.  
“I don’t know, sir. The question came into my head” she looked confused at herself as well. Dumbledore gave her an odd look before smiling.   
“Does what you are going to tell us have to do with the prophecy? Will it help us… survive?”   
“It has everything to do with the prophecy.” Dumbledore said as casually as if I had asked him about the weather. “ And I certainly hope that it will help you survive.”  
Dumbledore got to his feet and walked around the desk and past me and Sevira, we turned to watch Dumbledore bending over the cabinet beside the door. When Dumbledore straightened up, he was holding a familiar shallow stone basin with old markings around the rim. He placed the pensieve in front of me and Sevira.   
“You look worried,” Dumbledore said.  
I had indeed been eyeing the Pensieve with some apprehension. The last few experiences with the odd device that revealed thoughts and memories, though highly instructive had also been uncomfortable went badly.   
“Well this time, you will enter the Pensieve with me and Sevira… and even more unusually, you will have permission.”   
“Where are we going sir?” I asked, rolling my eyes a little.  
“For a trip down Bob Ogden’s memory lane.” said Dumbledore, pulling from his pocket a crystal bottle containing a swirling silvery-white substance.   
“It is a memory” Sevira whispered to me. Dumbledore heard as he smiled.   
“Who was Bob Ogden?” Sevira asked.  
“He was employed by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement” said Dumbledore. “He died some time ago but not before I got his recollection that he provided me with. We are about to accompany him with a visit he made in the course of his duties. If you two will stand…”   
Dumbledore struggled to pull out the stopper of the crystal bottle; his injured hand seems stiff and painful. Sevira pulled out her wand and opened it. He smiled and thanked her.   
“How did you injure your hand?” I asked, looking at the blackened fingers with a mixture of revulsion and pity.   
“Now is not the moment for that story, Harry. We have an appointment with Bob Ogden”  
Dumbledore tipped the silvery contents of the bottle into the Pensieve, where they swirled and shimmered, neither liquid nor gas.  
“After you” Dumbledore said, gesturing towards the bowl. We all went in together….  
Once we were back in Dumbledore’s office, I let out a relieved sigh. I found out that Merope was Voldemort's mother and that she used a love potion. Which means Voldemort is unable to love which is sad from my own point of view. Dumbledore didn’t seem to care about that.   
Once we left, I heard Sevira take a deep breath.   
“Did you not enjoy that?” I asked her as we walked quietly back to the Gryffindor common room.  
“Enjoy that?” She questioned, raising her eyebrows.   
“Okay, wrong choice of words. What did you think about that?” I asked.   
“Fine, but I have a theory.” She said. “Dumbledore’s injured hand… I think the ring we saw in the memory and now that Dumbledore has it… it makes me wonder if the ring is what cursed Dumbledore’s hand.” She theorized. I nodded in agreement. What she was saying made sense and could be a possibility.   
“If that was the case. Do you think there could be a cure for it?” I asked in hope. Sevira shrugged. She didn’t know either. We walked into the common room quietly as it was 10pm. Hermione and Ron had seemed to have fallen asleep on the two armchairs in front of the fire. Sevira placed her bag down and walked over to them quietly.   
“Wake up” she said, quietly in her ears. Hermione began to stir but Ron didn’t budge. I picked up a spare book and threw it at him. Ron jumped up in fright.   
“Harry!” scowled Ron, sitting back down. Hermione looked at me and Sevira expecting us to tell her what happened. I told them all about what happened. I asked Dumbledore before we left if I could tell Ron and Hermione and he said yes.   
“Did he tell you why his hand is like that?” Ron asked, rubbing his tired eyes.   
“No, but Sevira has a theory,” I said, glancing at Sevira.   
“Yes, I believe the ring Dumbledore picked up had a curse on it so on Monday I will go to the library and look up if there are any antidotes and what type of curse it is.” Sevira said quickly.   
“Hermione, it looks like Sevira is taking your job.” Ron sniggered. Hermione glared at him.  
“You can help me Hermione. It would be easier with two people” Sevira suggested. Hermione smiled and nodded quickly. I just smiled at both of them.   
The next day was quiet. It was a Sunday so no classes but Hermione and Sevira decided to finish their homework while me and Ron played some wizard chess.   
Once we finished wizard chess, I lost of course. I sat beside Sevira and just stared into the fire, thinking about the potions textbook. I decided that it was not a good idea at this moment to get too invested into it, meaning I did not want to rely on it. I can get by without any help.   
“You are telling me Sevira that you lie in the grass and in rose gardens to read?” Hermione questioned looking at her like she was weird.   
“What is wrong with that? It makes reading better as you can smell the grass and roses.” Sevira said, huffing a little.  
“There is nothing wrong with lying in rose gardens and on the grass.” I interjected, Why were they talking about this?'' I laughed slightly at the absurdity of this conversation.   
“Thank you!” Sevira said as folded her arms against her chest. Hermione and Sevira looked at each other and burst out laughing.   
“I am going for a walk. Anyone want to join me?” I asked, looking at three of them.   
“No, I am busy doing homework like you should be doing” Hermione said with a raise of annoyance in her voice.   
“No, I want to practice playing chess.” Ron said just making an excuse as he thought it was too cold to go outside.   
“I will go with you” Sevira said with a hint of reluctance and we both walked out the common room.   
Once we reached the outside path. I took a large breath. Being out here was just relaxing. I didn’t know if it was the quietness as no one was around. Sevira walked beside me as we walked down the stone path.   
“Where are we walking to?” Sevira asked. I looked around.   
“What about when we go to the Black Lake?” I suggested. She nodded. This was my chance to ask her things that I have on my mind.   
We reached the black lake in ten minutes and looked across it. It was beautiful. It was almost like I could hear music whenever I looked at the sun gleaming off the lake's waters.   
“It is beautiful out here isn’t it.” I said, trying to start a conversation. I noticed that Sevira isn’t someone who likes long conversations.   
“Yes it is.” She said curtly. I sighed. I knew that it would be difficult to get her to open up a little.   
“Before I found out I was a wizard, my Aunt and Uncle told me that my parents died in a car crash when actually they were murdered. For so long before Hogwarts, I felt so alone. I had no friends, no one I could call family but now I have all of those things. Look, what I am saying is, I am your friend and I know you must have felt alone coming here so I know how you feel. You can open up, you know.” I said gently. Sevira didn’t look at me but kept her eyes firmly on the lake and the tree across. We stood in silence for what felt like forever. I didn’t feel offended that she did not speak to me, I felt sad.   
“I had a friend once, Lewis. He was smart, brilliant, and he loved anyone he met. Unfortunately I had to leave him behind. I know I will never see him again.” She said quietly. I listened but didn’t quite know why she decided to tell me that. “I grew up in a non loving household. My father would berate me and beat me every chance he got and my mother stood there and watched. I thought it was my fault. Once they died I was free. I never grieved for them. I didn’t feel like I belonged, I still feel like I don’t belong. Do you think it is because of me? Do you think people hate me because of the way I am?” Sevira asked, not looking at me once.   
My hand slowly covered my mouth. If truth be told, I did not think she would be that open with me. I placed a hand on her shoulder, she just shook me off.   
“No, of course not! I think you are intelligent and brave. I don’t think anyone hates you. I don’t hate you. I love the fact you lie in rose gardens and on the grass when you read. I was and still am abused by my Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. It was worse before I was a wizard. They would bully me constantly. I had to cook and clean for them. Vernon hit me almost every day. Even my cousin Dudley got a few punches in on a regular basis. Thank you Sevira for being open with me, I know it must have been difficult.” I said, with a gentle smile.   
“I am sorry, about your life. Maybe it is best that we are here instead of there.” She replied, looking at me.   
“So, what did you smell in the Amortentia potion then?” I asked, changing the subject.   
“Ah, nothing really.” she said, I knew she was lying.   
“Really? You can’t fool me. I know when I see a liar.” I joked, if she doesn’t want to tell me then so be it. I cannot force her. Unfortunately.   
“I smell roses, books and grass…” I trailed. Did Ginny smell like that? Sevira smirked.   
“Mine smells like treacle tart, pumpkin juice and broomsticks.” She said honestly.   
“Is that what Lewis smells like?” I asked.   
“Unfortunately, not.” she said. I looked out onto the lake where the sun was setting. Sevira sat down on the wet grass and I joined her. We just sat in a comfortable silence and watched the sun set.   
We walked back up to the Great Hall for dinner and then had an evening helping each other with homework. As Hermione had predicted, the sixth year’s free periods were not the hours of relaxation that Ron had wished but it was to attempt to keep up with the large amount of homework they were being set. Even the lessons were more demanding than ever before. I barely understood what half was said by Professor McGonagall. Even Hermione had to ask her to repeat instructions once or twice and to Hermione’s increasing resentment, my best subject was suddenly Potions, thanks to the Half-Blood Prince.   
Non-verbal spells were now expected, not only in Defence Against the Dark Arts but also in Charms and Transfiguration too. I frequently looked over at my classmates in the common room or at mealtimes to see them purple in the face just because they were struggling to make spells work without saying incantation except Sevira who seemed to do it with ease. It was a relief to get outside into the greenhouses; they were dealing with more dangerous plants than ever in Herbology. I noticed that Sevira seemed to struggle more in this class which made me feel slightly better as at least she is human. One result of our enormous workload and our frantic hours of practising non-verbal spells was that we did not have time to go to see Hagrid and I did not have time to start my new Occlumency lessons with Sevira much to her frustration.   
“We have to go and explain.” said Hermione as we had noticed that Hagrid had stopped coming to meals at the staff table, and even ignored us when we passed in the corridor.   
“We have got Quidditch tryouts this morning!” said Ron, “And we are supposed to be practising that aguamenti charm for Flitwick! Anyway, explain why? How are we going to explain that we hate his subject!”  
“We didn’t hate it,” said Hermione, crossing her arms.   
“Speak for yourself, I haven’t forgotten the Skrewts” said Ron darkly “And I am telling you now, we have had a narrow escape. You did not hear him going on about his gormless brother - we’d have been teaching Grawp how to tie his shoelaces if we had stayed”  
“I hate not talking to Hagrid,” said Hermione, looking upset.   
“We will go down after quidditch,” I assured her. I, too, was missing Hagrid. Although like Ron I thought we were better off without Grawp in our lives. “But, trials might take all morning, the number of people who had applied.” I felt nervous at confronting the first hurdle of my captaincy. “I dunno why the team is so popular all of a sudden” I said nervously.   
“Oh, come on, It is not Quidditch that is popular. It is you! You have never been more interesting and, frankly, you have never been more fanciable.” Hermione said. Ron gagged on a bit of kipper and Sevira smirked. “Everyone knows you’ve been telling the truth about Lord Voldemort… can’t you see why people are fascinated by you?”  
I was finding the Great Hall very hot all of a sudden, even though the ceiling looked cold and rainy.   
The post owls arrived, swooping down through rain-flecked windows, scattering everyone with droplets of rain . I had received no mail since the start of term; my only regular correspondent was now dead and although I hoped that Lupin might write occasionally, I had been so far disappointed. Sevira received a letter. I didn’t want to see who wrote to her. It wasn’t my business. I was surprised when I saw Hedwig fly in with a large and square package. A moment later, Ron also had the same looking package.   
“Ha!” I said as I unwrapped the parcel to reveal a new copy of Advanced Potion-making, fresh from Flourish and Blotts.   
“Now, you can give that graffitied copy back” Hermione said, delighted. I scoffed.   
“Are you mad?” I said. “ I am keeping it! Look, I have thought it out -”   
I pulled the old copy of Advanced Potion-making out of his bag and tapped the cover with my wand, muttering, “Diffindo” The cover fell off. I did the same thing with my brand new book. I cast a “Reparo!”.   
There sat the Prince’s copy, looking like a new book and the newly purchased book from Flourish and Blotts looking like a second hand book. Hermione pressed her lips in a disapproving look. But was distracted when the daily prophet dropped on the table. Sevira picked it up and opened it and scoffed.   
“There has been more dementor attack” she said, still reading.   
“Excellent, who?” I said, thinking if it was Bellatrix Lestrange.   
“Unfortunately it isn’t Bellatrix, it was Stan Shunpike.” Sevira said, reading my mind. I groaned. She has been doing that more and more. I didn’t really care anymore but it was still annoying.  
“What?” I said in shock. Stan didn’t seem to portray as a Death Eater. I had met him in my third year. “Stan Shunpike, a death eater?” I asked. I couldn’t believe it.   
“He might have been put under the imperius curse, You never can tell” Ron said reasonably.  
“It doesn’t seem so, it says he was arrested after he was overheard talking about the Death Eaters’ secret plans in a pub most likely the Leaky Cauldron” she looked up from her newspaper with a slightly troubled expression.   
“Did ya know him Sevira?” asked Ron.   
“Yes, He took me to the platform. I was lost.” She simply said, I knew that she was lying.   
“If he was under the imperius curse, he would hardly stand around gossiping about their plans, would he?” Hermione asked, looking slightly shocked.   
“It sounds like he was trying to make out he knew more than he did,” Ron said. “Isn’t he the one who claimed he was going to become minister of magic when he was trying to chat up those veelas?”  
“Yeah that’s him” I said. “I dunno what they are playing at, taking Stan seriously.” Sevira folded the Daily Prophet and passed it to Hermione.  
“They probably want to look as though they are doing something,” Hermione said, frowning. “People are terrified - you know the Patil twins parents want them to go home? And Eloise Midgeon has already been withdrawn. Her father picked her up last night.”  
“What! But Hogwarts is safer than their homes, bound to be! We have got Aurors, and all those spells and we have Dumbledore!” Ron googled at Hermione.   
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the death eaters were able to get in. Dumbledore is rarely here. Look at the staff table. He is nearly gone as much as Hagrid.” Hermione stated as she pointed towards the table. I haven’t seen Dumbledore since our last private lesson a week ago.   
“I think he has left the school to do something with the Order.” Hermione said in a low voice. “I mean… it is all looking serious, isn’t it?”  
We all didn’t reply but I knew we were all thinking the same. I noticed Professor McGonagall making her way towards us.   
“Sevira, come with me please.” She said, I noticed a bit of sadness in her stern eyes. Sevira stood up and walked behind her as they walked out the Great Hall. I started to panic slightly.   
We left the Gryffindor five minutes after Sevira left to head down to the Quidditch pitch, we passed Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Lavender seemed to blush when Ron walked past them. I smiled.   
As expected, the trial took most of the morning as half of Gryffindor decided to turn up from nervous first years to Cormac Mclaggen who looked annoyed as I didn’t display favouritism. I glanced up at the stands to see Hermione and Sevira who didn’t particularly show any emotion on her features. I decided to start with a basic test, asking all the applicants for the team to divide into groups of ten and fly once around the pitch. This was a good decision, I thought. The first ten was made up of first years and it could not have been plainer that they had hardly ever flown before as only a certain few were able to stay airborne.   
The second group consisted ten of the silliest girls I have ever met, when I blew my whistle the group fell about laughing. The group consisted of Romilda Vane who I had previously met on the train. I got to the last group who turned out to be Hufflepuff’s.   
“If there is anyone else here who is not in Gryffindor, leave here now please!” I roared. I was beginning to get annoyed.   
There was a pause , then a couple of little Ravenclaw’s went running off the pitch laughing.   
After two hours, many complaints and several tantrums, I had found three chasers. Katie Bell, Demelza Robins and Ginny Weasley. I had to make sure it didn’t look like favouritism.   
Once the tryouts were over. Hermione and Sevira walked towards me and Ron. Ron had finally made it as a Keeper. I was happy for him. We said goodbye and headed towards Hagrids. Sevira was quiet, but this time more quiet. If that was even possible.   
“I am going to stay behind.” Sevira said quietly. I was stuck. I wanted to stay with Sevira but I wanted to see Hagrid.   
“I will see Hagrid another time. You two head off.” I said, standing back so I was beside Sevira. Ron and Hermione smiled gently and wandered off. We both turned and walked back into the warmth of Hogwarts.   
“You didn’t need to stay with me, you know,” she said quietly, as we walked towards the Gryffindor common room.  
“I wanted to. And besides you look sad so I didn’t want you to be alone” I stated as we entered the portrait hole.   
“You are wanting to know why Professor McGonagall wanted to speak to me aren’t you?” she asked with a hint of disappointment. I shrunk a little.   
“No, I just wanted to make sure you know you can talk to me about it if you wish to.” I simply stated as we sat on the two armchairs. Sevira pulled out a crumpled letter and handed it to me. I slowly unwrapped it. 

Dear Sevira,   
As you know, your aunt Eileen Prince had fallen ill around January of this year. We thought that she had recovered but unfortunately this morning she was found dead in the garden. She didn’t look like she was in pain. I received an owl, last night but did not wish to wake you and thought it best that you were told in the morning. I wished it was me who told you but I have suddenly become unavailable. Tell you in our private lessons.   
Yours sincerely,   
Albus Dumbledore.  
P.S. Hot Chocolate helps.

I passed the letter back to Sevira who took it and placed it back in her pocket. I didn’t know what to say.   
“Do you think she died of natural causes?” I asked her, gently as I could. She shook her head.   
“It was poison. I researched it earlier, all of her symptoms correlate to poison but I believe someone heard her in her garden and killed her.” She said with a hint of spite.   
“Who would do such a thing?” I asked.   
“Bellatrix Lestrange'' She said bluntly. My heart stung. She was the cause of my godfather’s death and now Sevira’s aunt, will she ever stop?   
“I am so sorry. Can I hug you?” I asked, I thought it better to ask instead of forcing myself upon her. She nodded. I stood up and wrapped my arms around her gently. I rubbed her back. She smelled like everything I had smelled in potions last week which scared me and I didn’t know why.  
After a while I let her go and we walked down to the Great Hall in silence. Hermione and Ron were already eating. They both looked up and smiled at us. We sat down. I thought it best not to tell them what I learned from Sevira today. Sevira played with her food and I just ate small amounts. Ron was eating like he has been starved for years and Hermione was looking at him in disgust.   
“Harry, Harry, just the man I was hoping to see!” I turned to see Slughorn walking towards us, I groaned. “I was hoping to catch you before dinner but I see you have already eaten but I was hoping you would want a spot of supper in my rooms instead? We are having a little party, just a few rising stars, I have got Mclaggen and Zabini and of course Miss Granger and Miss Prince, I hope very much that you will favour me and come too and Miss Prince, I am sorry to hear about your aunt. Terrible times we live in.” Slughorn said in concern. I tensed up slightly but Sevira didn’t look like she was offended that he just said something personal. Hermione gasped and Ron finally stopped eating.   
“We can’t come, Professor. Me and Harry have detention with Professor Snape.” Sevira said.   
“Oh dear!” Slughorn said, his face falling “Well I will have to have a little chat with Severus and explain the situation, I am sure I will be able to persuade him to postpone it. Well I will see you all later!” He walked out of the great hall. I groaned and placed my head on the wooden table.   
“He won’t be able to persuade Snape, this detention has already been postponed once.” I was getting annoyed and anxious. The workload and the whole slughorn situation.   
“Listen, Ron it is not my fault Slughorn invited me, Sevira and Hermione to his silly party, neither of us actually want to go, you know!” I said getting frustrated at Ron’s jealousy. I felt a gentle foot on my foot. I looked down to see it was Sevira’s, I looked at her and she smiled gently.   
“Well, I am not invited to any parties ever. I am going to bed.” Ron stormed off, out of the great hall. Me and Hermione and Sevira made our way to the common room but were stopped when Professor Snape made his way towards us in one of the corridors.   
“Mr Potter... “ Snape trailed off and then looked at Sevira, who didn’t look him in the eye.   
“You and your girlfriend are to come to my office immediately to do your detention.” He sneered. I felt the anger rise within me.   
“She isn’t my girlfriend.” I drawled out, glaring at him. Sevira nudged me and Hermione walked off while giving me a sad smile.   
“You’d better be careful, you might offend her. Now, come.” Snape turned around and we followed him down to the dungeons which he didn’t have anymore.   
Cleaning Flobberworms without protective gloves was better than I thought it was better than cleaning cauldrons with toothbrushes.   
“How is your first detention?” I asked Sevira. She looked at me and back at Snape who seemed to be marking our homework from the previous day.  
“Fine, at least we don’t have to do this detention on separate days.” She whispered, giving a mischievous smile. I smirked.   
“Miss Prince, come here.” Snape said. Sevira stood and walked around the table. I listened.   
“Tell me how you have managed to get full marks. No one else in this class has gotten reasonable marks but you… you seem to be ahead.” he sneered.   
“I study, sir. I do the work. If you think I am cheating, you are wrong” Sevira stated, folding her arms in annoyance.   
“Interesting. I heard your aunt passed. Don’t think you will be getting special treatment.” he scowled at her.   
“Well I certainly don’t want special treatment. I would like to say that I am sorry your mother died.” this seemed to offend Snape as he stood up abruptly. Sevira, stood back, looking at him with a cold expression. Snape looked at me and noticed I was staring.   
“Get out, both of you!” He roared. We both ran out the classroom and ran back to the common room.  
“You are related to Snape!” I said, laughing slightly. She looked embarrassed. The common room was empty.  
“Cousins. Is that a problem?” She asked, with a worried expression.   
“No. Not at all.” I said. Sevira sighed and fell back onto the armchair. I sat on the one beside her.  
“I find it quite funny.” I said, suddenly. Looking into the fire. Sevira chuckled slightly. I looked at her. Throughout the past few weeks, Sevira has opened up more and more and I have to say it is interesting to see. Maybe I will find out why she is here.


	4. The Kiss.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I made a story playlist!: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzeLT2iSfPXgcPyQBh-hjPAMecA9rLe4b

Where was Dumbledore, and what was he doing? I only caught sight of the Headmaster twice over the weeks that have passed. He did not appear for meals any more and I was sure Hermione was right when she said that he was going for days at a time. Did Dumbledore forget the lessons he was supposed to be giving me and Sevira? He had said that these lessons were leading to something to do with the prophecy. I had felt bolstered and comforted, and now I felt slightly abandoned. Not only that, Sevira has been disappearing as well. She hasn’t turned up to her Defence Against the Dark Arts classes which Snape always brought up during the lessons. I wanted to know where she was. She only came to potions when Slughorn was doing more difficult potions. The only time me, Ron, and Hermione saw her was in the common room but even then she did not stay long and Hermione had said she doesn’t talk to her in the girls dormitory.   
Halfway through October came our first trip to Hogsmeade and I wondered whether these trips would still be allowed considering the higher safety measures placed on the school. I was pleased to find out that the trips were still going ahead.   
I woke up early for the trip to Hogsmeade. I read my copy of Advanced potion-making in bed which I was told by Ron that I reminded him of Hermione.   
The more information I realized was in this textbook proved to me it wasn’t just a textbook for potions but allowed me to use more jinxies I have never heard before. I tried these jinxies on Crabbe and Goyle but the jinx I was more interested in was the Muffliato jinx which filled the ears of anyone nearby with a bussing in their ears which allowed me to have lengthy conversations without people listening in.   
However, Hermione did not find these jinxies funny, she didn’t agree with using jixies on other people so I refrained from it   
Once I was in the common room with Hermione and Ron. Sevira wasn’t in bed so she must be somewhere in the castle.   
“Hey, Harry. I am supposed to give you this” said Ginny, it was a scroll of parchment with my name and also Sevira’s with familiar handwriting.   
“Thanks, Ginny… it is Dumbledore’s next lesson!” I told Ron and Hermione. I opened it. “Monday evening!” I felt happy and excited. “Do you want to join us in Hogsmeade?” I asked Ginny.   
“No, Harry I am going with Dean but I might see you there!” she replied, waving to us while she left.   
Filch was standing at the oak front doors as usual, checking off the names of people who had permission. I saw Sevira who was standing in front of Filch.   
“You do not seem to have permission.” He quipped.   
“My aunt was ill so I never got her to sign it, she died a month ago.” She said, her voice higher than usual. I smirked. Flich looked uncomfortable.   
“You may go but don’t blame me if you are caught.” Filch said, gesturing for her to go through the door. She didn’t need to be checked by the Secrecy Sensor which he was using on everyone. I couldn’t understand it but I didn’t question it.   
The walk into Hogsmeade was not enjoyable. I wrapped my scarf over my neck and the first half of my face. The road to the village was full of students bent double against the wind. When we finally reached Hogsmeade and decided to go to Honeydukes as Zonko’s joke shop was boarded up.   
“Thank God,” shivered Ron as we were enveloped by warm, toffee-scented air “Let’s stay here all afternoon”  
“Harry, m’boy!” said a booming voice from behind us. I rolled my eyes.  
“Oh, no” I muttered, the three of us turned to see Slughorn, who was wearing an enormous furry hat and overcoat with matching fur collar, clutching a large bag of crystalized pineapple and occupying at least a quarter of the shop.   
“Harry, that is three of my suppers you have missed out!” Slughorn said, poking me in the chest. “It won’t do, my boy, I am determined to have you! Miss Granger loves them, don’t you?”  
“Yes” said Hermione helplessly. From behind Slughorn I saw Sevira walk in looking like a drowned rat. She looked at me and I waved with a smile. She walked over and sat down quietly.   
“Ah Sevira! Why aren’t you coming to my suppers?” Slughorn asked her.   
“I have had meetings with other professors, sir. I will come to the next one.” She said quietly, Slughorn just sighed.  
“We can’t go to the next one, we have a meeting with Professor Dumbledore.” I stated. Slughorn groaned dramatically.  
“Unlucky again! You can’t evade me forever!” and with a wave he walked out into the cold.   
“I can’t believe you guys have wriggled out of another one, they aren’t that bad” said Hermione, shaking her head. “So Sevira, where have you been these past few weeks? We haven’t seen you?” Hermione asked.  
“Oh, I had to go to my aunt's funeral and I just wasn’t feeling myself. I spent most of the time with Professor McGonagall cause I didn’t want to be around others. Sorry about that.” She replied honestly. Everything made sense. From her looking like she had been crying to the avoidance of classes. She was with McGonagall. I sighed.   
We ended up in Hog’s Head and we ordered butterbeers.   
“I am off to the toilet.” Sevira said, standing up. I watched her go up the stairs. The door opened and entered Draco Malfoy holding a brown package and walked up the stairs up to the toilets. I rolled my eyes. Sevira came running down the stairs and grabbed her brown bag and ran back up the stairs. Me and Ron looked confused and we looked at Hermione who seemed to be laughing at our confused faces.   
“Why does she need her bag?” Ron asked, sipping his butterbeer. Hermione stopped laughing.  
“Have you ever heard of a time of the month Ron?” Hermione asked, turning red slightly.   
“No what is it? Does she need help?” Ron asked, looking worried. I finally figured it out and looked at Hermione.   
“She is on her period, Ron.” I said, trying not to laugh at his confusion. Ron still looked confused.   
“Honestly, Ronald! How do you not know what a period is!” Hermione exclaimed. “It is when a woman bleeds from her - you know- where we pee from for a few days” Hermione bluntly said. I tried to keep a straight face.   
“From the same hole?” Ron asked when I took a gulp of butterbeer. I almost choked on it. Hermione went red.   
“No, not the same hole, can we please change the subject?” Hermione asked. Sevira walked slowly down the stairs and sat beside me, she looked dazed. Ron looked at with a look of worry. She dropped her bag with a loud clunk.   
We made it back to the common room and sat in front of the warm fire. Ron still looked confused but was entertained by his wizard chess he was playing with Hermione. I pulled out my charms and started the homework. Sevira opened up her bag and pulled out a brown package that looked extremely similar to what Draco had in Hog’s Head.   
“What’s that?” I asked, putting my quill in the ink. Sevira opened it and had an ornate opal necklace in it. It looked evil, like something was wrong with it. I have seen that before.  
“I have seen that before in Borgin and Burkes.” I stated, Sevira stared at it before closing it back up.   
“I have to see Dumbledore.” She bluntly said and began to walk out the common room in a trance. Hermione and Ron looked up, I gave them a look and we followed her to the gargoyle. “Acid pops,” Sevira said in a monotone voice.   
“Harry, she isn’t herself. She shouldn’t be going to see Dumbledore. I have a bad feeling about this.” Hermione said in worry. I ran up to her before the stairs began to move.  
“Come on, Sevira. Let’s see Dumbledore another time.” I suggested. No reply. She walked up the stairs and I followed behind with Hermione and Ron. I touched her shoulder but she shoved me off violently but still did not say anything. She knocked and entered. I followed behind.   
“Oh, I wasn’t expecting you four. How may I help you?” Dumbledore asked with a suspicious gaze. Sevira walked towards his desk without any word. I ran up and tried to grab the package from her. She tugged it back from me but the package dropped on the floor.   
At once, Sevira rose into the air, not like someone being jinxed by the levicorpus charm. Her arms outstretched as though she were about to fly… her black hair was whipped around her face. All of us including Dumbledore stood and watched unable to move. Sevira let out a blood-curdling scream, her eyes flew open but whatever she was seeing or feeling was causing her terrible anguish. She screamed and screamed. I finally moved and grabbed her ankles, she fell on top of me writhing, screaming, and thrashing around.   
“Move out of the way Harry!” Dumbledore instructed as Sevira thrashed and screamed on the cold floor unable to recognise any of us.   
“Go get Madame Pomfrey, Miss Granger and Mr Weasley. Off you go!” Dumbledore said with fear. Dumbledore looked at the opal necklace and grabbed his wand and placed it on his desk with a levitation spell.   
“I wouldn’t touch that, sir” I said as I placed my hand on Sevira who was still thrashing in pain and screaming.   
“I know Harry. May I ask how she came to get a hold of this?” He asked sitting on the stoned step.   
“Uh… she went to the bathroom and came back with it in her bag. Professor, I believe it was Malfoy. He came in with a similar looking package as that one.” I accused. It would make sense. What if Draco’s plan was to kill Dumbledore?   
“Do you believe that Draco cast an imperius curse on young Sevira here?” Dumbledore questioned. He looked deep in thought but also in pain. I looked at Sevira who was still screaming. “Shhhh.” I soothed. Trying to quieten her but nothing.   
“It would make sense sir. She wouldn’t do this intentionally sir.” I said.   
“Well let’s not throw accusations around Harry. It never ends well and please don’t think I blame Sevira for this. I do believe she was cursed by the Imperius….. Oh Poppy.” Dumbledore stood abruptly as the Medi-witch burst through the door and looked at her. Mcgonagall came bursting through the door as well along with Professor Snape. I hated the fact that I felt a twinge of guilt for Snape as this was another one of his family members injured.   
“Albus, she will have to go to St Mungo’s. I can’t treat her here.” Pomfrey said with worry. Dumbledore sighed.   
“Get Sevira to St Mungos Poppy.” Dumbledore requested and Pomfrey levitated the screaming Sevira down the stairs. Hermione and Ron stood beside me.   
“Why is it, when something happens it is always you three?” Professor McGonagall commented, folding her arms.   
“Believe me, Professor. I have been asking myself that for 6 years.” Ron replied. Me and Hermione looked at him and smiled.   
“If I might Headmaster, perhaps this necklace was given to Sevira and she was cursed?” Snape suggested, looking at the necklace with fascination.   
“That is what young Harry believes as well.” Dumbledore said, sitting behind his desk. “Well, it's almost dinner. Head along now.” Dumbledore said to the three of us. We walked out leaving Dumbledore and Snape alone.   
I couldn’t eat anything, neither could Ron and Hermione. I looked over to the head table to see Professor McGonagall looking at me with worried eyes.   
“She will be fine Harry.” Ron said. Hermione took an intake of breath and we all looked at her.  
“If the necklace is what I think it is. By touching it, it could kill her.” Hermione said bluntly.   
Me and Ron looked at each other in worry.   
A few days later and Sevira had not been discharged from St Mungo’s so I had to go to Dumbledore on my own. I knocked on the door and walked in. Dumbledore was slumped at his desk, he looked at me and smiled.   
“Have you heard from St Mungo’s, sir?”” I asked as I sat across from him.   
“Yes in fact I have. She is still very unwell but she has been relatively lucky it seems. She appears to only have brushed the necklace with the smallest amount of skin. So she was extremely lucky.” Dumbledore said. He looked relieved.   
“When will she be able to come back?” I asked, Dumbledore smiled and looked behind me and I turned to see Sevira at the door looking more pale but alive. That was all that mattered. Sevira slowly walked to sit beside me.   
“How are you feeling?” Dumbledore asked her with a smile.   
“I am feeling better than yesterday. I want to apologise for my actions yesterday.” She apologised but Dumbledore raised his hand.  
“Nothing to apologise for. Now, onto our lesson.” Dumbledore said quietly.   
Once that was done and we had finished looking at memories, I helped Sevira down the stairs. She was very tired which was understandable. I held onto her arm as we walked towards the Gryffindor Common room.   
“You have been through it recently haven’t you?” I mentioned, scoffing slightly. Everything that seemed to happen has happened to her.   
“Well, I guess I am unlucky. My aunt always said to me that I was the unlucky one.” Sevira said, giving a small laugh.   
“I wouldn’t say you are unlucky, you are just a person who unlucky things have happened to.” I said, giving her a smile. She smiled in return.   
The next morning, we all had Herbology, I wanted to inform Ron and Hermione on what I had learned on the recent lesson with Dumbledore but I didn’t want people to overhear as we walked to the greenhouses. The weekend’s wind had finally died out but the weird mist returned and because of this it took us a bit longer to find the correct greenhouse.  
“I still don’t don’t get why Dumbledore is showing you and Sevira this. I mean, it is really interesting and everything but what is the point.” said Ron once I told them everything.   
“I dunno,” I said, inserting my gum shield. “But he says it is all important and it will help me to survive.”  
“I think it is fascinating,” said Hermione earnestly. “It makes absolute sense to know as much as possible about Voldemort. How else will you learn his weaknesses?” I just sighed and hoped that was the case.   
“So how was Slughorn’s latest party?” I asked her thickly through the gum shield. Me and Sevira have missed every single dinner party.  
“Oh, it was quite fun, really” said Hermione, now putting on protective goggles. “I mean, he drones on about famous ex-pupils a bit, and he absolutely fawns on Mclaggen because he is so well-connected, but he gave us some really nice food and he even introduced Gwenog Jones.”  
“Gwenog Jones? The Gwenog Jones? Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?” Ron asked, his eyes widening under his own glasses.   
“That is right,” Hermione said. “Personally, I thought she was a bit full of herself, but-”  
“Quite enough chat over here!” said Professor Sprout briskly, bustling over to us and looking quite stern. “You are lagging behind, everyone has started and Sevira is almost finished. Get a move on!”.  
“We should have used a muffliato, Harry.” said Ron once Sprout walked away. Hermione gave Ron a glare.   
“No , we shouldn’t!” said Hermione, looking quite cross at the thought of using one of the Half-Blood Princes spells. “Well come on… we better get started…”  
“Slughorn is going to have a christmas party, you two. There will be no way you guys will be able to wriggle out of this one as he has asked me for the days you are free so he could have it on that day” said Hermione.   
Me and Sevira groaned and Ron rolled his eyes.   
“I guess you will be taking McLaggen?” Ron asked with jealousy.   
“No actually, I was going to ask you!” Hermione said huffing. I looked at the two of them.  
“Well, don’t bother! I don’t want to go to his stupid party.” Ron said, not looking at Hermione.   
“Fine! I thought you would have wanted to come with me.” Hermione said going back to her work. Me and Sevira looked at each other.   
“So, I guess it is a party for his favourite students? Ron asked while trying to burst the pod we were working on in Herbology.  
“Just for the Slug Club,yes,” Hermione said.  
The pod flew out from under Ron’s fingers and hit the greenhouse glass, rebounding on the back of Sprouts head. I went to get it and quickly apologised for the mistake and walked back to hear Hermione talking about the club.  
“Look, I didn’t make up the name Slug Club.” Hermione said.  
“Slug Club” Ron repeated with a sneer worthy of Malfoy. “It’s pathetic, Well, I hope you enjoy your party cause I certainly don’t want to come. Get off with McLaggen , then Slughorn can make you King and Queen Slug-”  
“As I said, we can bring guests” said Hermione, who has turned a bright, boiling scarlet. “But if you think I should get off with McLaggen then fine! Don’t come!”  
I looked over at Sevira who was concentrating on bursting the pod open. She was red and I could tell she wished she wasn’t here. So did I. We seem to have gone unnoticed by Ron and Hermione so I moved closer to Sevira and grabbed the bowl that contained the pods and tried to get the open as loudly as I could but unfortunately could still hear their conversation.   
“You were truly going to ask me?” Ron asked in a completely different tone than before.   
“Yes, but forget it!” Hermione said angrily.   
There was a pause while I pounded the resilient pod with the trowel.   
“I don’t particularly want you to go with McLaggen,” Ron said in a quiet voice. I missed the pot and the bowl shattered. Sevira cast a Reparo and It was fixed instantly. The crash however, appeared to have awoken Ron and Hermione to me and Sevira’s presence. Hermione looked flustered and immediately started fussing about her copy of Flesh eating trees of the world to find out the correct way to juice Snargaluff pods; Ron looked sheepish but looked pleased with himself as well. Sevira on the other hand sighed in relief as that was over. I passed Hermione her pod in the bowl and me and Ron got back to work.  
It wasn’t like I was truly surprised this was happening as I had an inkling that this would happen eventually, but I was not sure how I felt about it… Me and Cho were now too embarrassed to look each other in the eye, let alone talk to each other. What if Ron and Hermione started going out together but ended up splitting up? Could their friendship survive it? I remembered the few weeks when they had not talked to each other in our third year and how I had to bridge the distance between them. I don’t think I could do it again.   
“Gotcha!” yelled Ron, pulling out a second pod from the stump just as Hermione managed to burst open the first one.   
The lesson passed without further mention of Slughorn’s party. Over the next few days, I watched Ron and Hermione closely, they both seemed not so different if not more polite to each other than usual. I supposed I would see what happens under the influence of butterbeer in Slughorn's dimly lit room on the night of the party. In the meantime I was told terrible news. Katie Bell who was the Gryffindor chaser was at St Mungo’s apparently an accidental poisoning. The Gryffindor team had been practising since the end of September so without delay I had to replace Katie on the team. I kept putting it off but as the game against Slytherin was approaching I had to do it.   
“Are you interested in playing Chaser?” I asked Dean in the common room.   
“Yeah of course!!!” said Dean excitedly. Over Dean's head, I saw Seamus Finnigan slamming his books into his bag.   
“Well you are in! There is a practice tonight at seven o’clock.” I said, shaking his hand.   
“Right, Cheers Harry! Blimey, I can’t wait to tell Ginny!” He said as he sprinted out of the room.  
That evening, Dean proved that he was the correct choice to replace Katie Bell as chaser. Dean worked well with Ginny and Demelza. The Beaters, Peakes and Coote, were getting better over time. The only problem was Ron.   
I had known all along that Ron was an inconsistent player who seemed to suffer from nerves and lack of confidence. Unfortunately, as the opening game of the season was fast approaching, Ron’s old insecurities were brought out. After letting in half a dozen goals, most of them scored by Ginny, Ron’s technique became wilder and wilder until he punched Demelza Robins in the mouth.  
“It was an accident! I am sorry, Demelza, really sorry!” Ron shouted after heras she made her way to the ground dripping blood everywhere. “I just-”  
“Panicked!” said Ginny angrily landing next to Demelza and examining her bleeding lip. “You part, Ron, look at the state of her!”  
“I can fix that!” Sevira shouted as she ran across the pitch, she was watching from the benches. I made my way to the ground and got off my broom. Sevira pointed her wand at Demelza’s lip. “Episkey.”  
“Ginny, don’t call Ron a prat, you are not the captain of this team” I said, smirking a little.   
“Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should-”  
I forced myself not to laugh.   
“In the air, everyone, let’s go and Sevira get on my broom and I will take you to the benches.” I said. Sevira got on my broom and wrapped her arms around my waist. I pushed off the ground and flew up to the nearest stand. I looked down to see Ginny rolling her eyes. I lowered myself so Sevira could jump down.   
“Thank you” Sevira said, sitting down and smiling. I made my way back to the main pitch and tried to make this practice mean something.   
Overall it was one of the worst practices we have had all term, though I did not feel that was the best policy when they were this close to the match.   
“Good work, everyone. I think that we will flatten Slytherin” I said bracingly, the chaser and beaters left the changing rooms looking happy with themselves.   
“I played like a sack of dragon dung,” said Ron in a hollow voice when the door had swung shut beyond Ginny.  
“No you didn’t” I said firmly. “You are the best Keeper I tried out Ron. Your only problem is nerves.  
I kept all the relentless flow of encouragement all the way back to the castle, by the time we were at the second floor. Ron was looking more cheerful than before. I pushed open the tapestry to take our usual short cut up to Gryffindor Tower. However we were stopped as we saw Sevira and Draco who were locked in a close embrace and kissing fiercely as if glued together.   
It felt as though something large and scaly erupted into life in my stomach, clawing at my inside: hot blood seemed to flood my brain, so that all thought was extinguished, replaced by a savage urge to jinx Draco into jelly. Wrestling with this sudden madness, I heard Ron’s voice as though from a great distance away.   
“Oi!”  
Draco and Sevira broke apart and looked around at us.   
“What?” said Sevira.  
“I don’t want to find my friends snogging someone like him in public!” Ron replied, his voice still loud.  
“This was a deserted corridor till you came butting in!” said Sevira.   
Draco just glared at me and Ron. I glared back at him wishing he would trip.  
“Er… c’mon Sevira, let’s get out of here. Away from these blood traitors!” said Draco with an evil grin.  
“You go! I want a word with these two!” said Sevira. Draco left quickly as if he wanted to get away from the scene as quickly as possible. I wanted to kill him and I didn’t know why.   
“Let’s get this straight. It is not any of your guys business who I go out with or what I do with them.”  
“Yeah it is!” I said, with anger. “D’you think I want people saying my friend is a -”   
“A what?” shouted Sevira, drawing her wand. “A what, exactly?”   
“He doesn’t mean anything Sevira” Ron said, with a quiet voice.   
“Oh yes he does” she said, flaring up at Ron. “Just because he hasn't kissed someone in over a year except his potions textbook”  
“Shut your mouth!” I bellowed.I was sure I was turning red or even a maroon.  
“No, I will not!” yelled Sevira beside herself. I pulled out my wand as well and Ron jumped in front of us.   
“Yes you will!” I roared trying to get a clear shot at Sevira. All I saw was red. “Have you know, I have kissed more people after Cho!”   
Sevira let out a derisive laughter, trying to push Ron out of the way.   
“Kissing your potions book doesn’t count!” She yelled. I cast a knockback jinx but missed her by inches. Ron pushed me against the cold wall.   
“Don’t be so stupid!” Ron warned looking between us. “You are acting like you just caught her cheating on you. She can kiss who she wants I guess. I just got a fright!” Ron added with a hint of anger. Sevira stormed off and Ron let me go. I felt more angry than ever. I looked around to see Filch’s cat Mrs Norris.   
“C’mon!” Ron said. We hurried up the stairs and along the seventh floor. “Oi, get out of the way!” Ron barked at a small girl who jumped in fright and dropped a bottle of toad-spawn.  
I hardly noticed the sound of shattering glass; I felt disoriented, dizzy; being struck by a lightning bolt must feel like this. It must be because she is my friend, I just didn’t like Sevira kissing with slimy Draco.   
But before I knew it an image formed in my mind of the same deserted corridor with myself kissing Sevira instead… the monster in my chest purred… but then I saw Ginny drawing her wand at me- I waved the thought away. I had a crush on Ginny that’s it   
The final quidditch practice was a few days later and everyone seemed to be angry with each other. Ron was missing every single goal the chaser aimed at him. I began to wonder if Ron saw Sevira as a sister more than a friend. He seemed more distracted than usual. Ron also began to bellow at Demelza Robins.  
“You shut up and leave her alone!” Peakes shouted, who was about two-thirds Ron’s height, though carrying a heavy bat/  
“ENOUGH!” I bellowed, I saw that Ginny was glowering at Ron. I called a halt to practice and ended it not caring if we lost the match or not. I didn’t care anymore/   
I entered the common room to see Hermione and Sevira working on their potions homework. I walked towards them guilty.   
“Hey Harry! How was practice?” Hermione asked, looking up from her homework.   
“Awful, Ron seems to be upset that he wants to resign after the match on Saturday.” I said defeated. Hermione gave me a sympathetic look. I sat beside her, slumping slightly. Sevira didn’t look up or even acknowledge my existence.  
“Hey, Sevira” I said, in the hopes she would forgive me for my outburst. Sevira didn’t reply.   
“Sevira, answer him. It is only polite” Hermione said. Sevira sighed.   
“Hello” Sevira said with no emotion. Hermione huffed.   
“What has happened to you two?” Hermione asked impatiently.   
“I caught her kissing Draco in the abandoned corridor” I said after a moment of silence. Hermione froze and tried to speak. “I-”. Sevira just shut her book and stood up.   
“No, no. It is fine Sevira. Kiss who you want even if it’s him.” Hermione said, voice sounding a bit dry. Sevira turned around and sat back down.  
“If you must know, I thought it was someone else. Polyjuice potion was used on him.” Sevira said bluntly. “I was embarrassed when I found out who it was”  
“He was impersonating someone else? That is against the rules!” Hermione said, putting her parchment down on the small table. I sat there frozen.   
“It doesn’t matter, so I am sorry for screaming at you.” Sevira apologised.   
“You have nothing to apologise for.” I said feeling guilty for everything.   
“Who did you think you were kissing?” Hermione asked, smirking. Sevira leaned over to Hermione and whispered in her ear. Hermione let out a laugh and blushed. “I bloody knew it! I swear, I won’t say anything!”   
I tried to listen but I couldn’t as there was ringing in my ears. She used the Muffliato spell.   
I lay in bed, thinking how I could help Ron in the match on Saturday. I opened my drawer and pulled out a tiny bottle of Felix Felicis. Yes this will sort it out.   
As predicted, Ron drank the pumpkin juice once he believed I put the potion in his drink much to Hermione’s reluctance. This match will be our victory.


	5. The Party.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzeLT2iSfPXgcPyQBh-hjPAMecA9rLe4b

With Ron believing that he had Felix Felicis, the Gryffindor team won against Slytherin, It was also our luck that Draco Malfoy was called in sick. Coward. What was he up to?  
“There wasn’t anything in my pumpkin juice?” Ron said, astounded. “But the weather’s good… Vaisey couldn’t play… I honestly haven’t been given the lucky potion?”  
I shook my head and Ron gaped at me for a moment, then rounded on Hermione, imitating her voice.  
“You added Felix Felicis to Ron’s juice this morning, that’s why he saved everything! See! I can save goals without help, Hermione!”  
“I never said you couldn’t Ron, you thought you had been given it too!” Hermione replied, annoyed. Sevira stood beside me looking annoyed. Ron strode past Hermione and out the door with the broomstick over his shoulder.   
“That went well”” Sevira said sarcastically. Hermione just rolled her eyes. I had not planned for this to backfire , I had hoped Ron would have moved past this. 

A day earlier -   
I walked up to the boys dormitory and lay down on the red and golden sheets. I stared up at the ceiling thinking about the other day. What was wrong with me? Why did I act so monstrous? I guess I had every right to be considering that Draco had disguised himself as someone else but who? I wish I knew. I saw Ron come in with a bang. I sat up and looked at him. He was stomping around and lay on his bed with a loud thump.   
“What has got your pants in a twist?” I asked, looking at him in confusion.   
“According to Ginny, Hermione has kissed Victor Krum!” snapped Ron. That was not what I was expecting.   
“What? Two years ago?” I asked, dumbfounded. Why was Ron this angry?   
“You knew!” Ron yelled, staring at me with cold eyes. I lay back down and stared up at the ceiling. “Well, Ginny is going out with Dean Thomas, I caught them kissing in the common room. Disgusting if you ask me.” Ron said, with anger. I expected to feel that monstrous feeling in my stomach but nothing. I felt nothing. I didn’t feel the same as I did earlier in the year. What happened?  
“Good for her.” I replied, quietly. Ron lay back down and sighed.   
“Have you calmed down a bit?” I asked him, looking at him.   
“No, well slightly. I am annoyed at Hermione.” Ron admitted. I rolled my eyes.   
“Because she kissed Krum? C’mon, she can kiss whoever she wants. Are you jealous?” I asked with a funny voice. Ron just groaned.   
“No… of course not!” Ron blushed and turned away from me. I just laughed.   
“If you like Hermione, go and get her.” I said, being serious. I knew they liked each other but they were just being difficult.  
“Ha! That is rich coming from you!” Ron said, pointing at me and laughing. I looked at him confused. “Oh, come off it Harry! We all know you and Sevira like each other!” Ron said with a smirk.   
“Now you are being deluded, get some sleep Ron!” I said, turning around. What was he on?

Present day - 

“Shall we go to the party then?” I asked in the silence. Hermione crossed her arms and walked to the door.   
“You go! I am sick of Ron at the moment, I don’t know what I’m supposed to have done..” Hermione said storming out leaving me and Sevira in the changing rooms. We walked in silence up to the Gryffindor common room party. I felt like a let down, I had originally thought that by Ron winning the match that he and Hermione would be friends again immediately. I did not see how I could explain to Hermione that she had done to offend Ron was to kiss Viktor Krum, not when the offence had occurred so long ago.  
I could not see Hermione at the Gryffindor celebration which was in full swing when me and Sevira arrived. Cheers and clapping greeted my appearance and I was soon surrounded by a mob of people congratulating me. I saw that Sevira moved towards the door. She didn’t like crowds much. I ducked under everyone and made my way to the drinks table to find Ginny.  
“Looking for Ron?” she asked, smirking. “He’s over there, the filthy hypocrite,”. I looked over to the corner where she was looking in. There, in full view of the whole room, stood Ron wrapped so closely around Lavender Brown it was hard to tell who’s hand was who’s.  
“It looks like he is eating her face, doesn’t it?” Ginny said dispassionately. “But I suppose he has got to refine his technique somehow. Good game, Harry” She patted me on the shoulder and quickly left to talk to Neville. I turned away from Ron, who did not look like he was surfacing anytime soon, I saw Hermione run out of the Gryffindor tower with Sevira close behind. I followed them, trying to pass Romilda Vane on the way out. I looked for them everywhere until I found them both in an abandoned classroom. Sevira had her arm around Hermione’s shoulder as birds circling her head, which she must have conjured out of mid air. I couldn’t help but admire her spellwork. Sevira noticed me and smiled at me gently.   
“Oh, hello, Harry. I was just practising!” Hermione said in a bitter voice.  
“Yeah… they’re really good…” I said. I had no idea what to say to her. Sevira just said nothing. What could she say though? She was awkward at the best of times.  
“Ron seems to be enjoying the celebrations” Hermione quipped, wiping away tears.   
“Er, is he?” I said. Sevira glared at me.   
“Don’t pretend you didn’t see him, He wasn’t exactly trying to hide it.” said Hermione just as the door burst open. To my horror, Ron and Lavender came in laughing.  
“Oh,” he said, drawing up short at the sight of me and Hermione and Sevira.   
“Oops!” said Lavender and she backed out the room, giggling. The door swinging shut behind her.   
There was a horrible swelling, billowing silence. Hermione was staring at Ron, who seemed to have refused to look at her. “Hi, Harry! Wondered where you’d got to!” Ron said awkwardly.   
Hermioe slid off the desk, The little flock of golden birds continues ro twitter in circles around her head so that she looked like a strange, feathery model of the solar system.  
“You shouldn’t leave Lavender waiting outside,” she said quietly. “She will wonder where you are”  
She walked very slowly and erectly towards the door.I glanced at Ron who was relieved that nothing bad happened.  
“Oppugno!” came a shirek from the doorway. I spun around to see Hermione pointing her wand at Ron, her expression wild; the flock of birds were speeding like a hail of fat golden bullets towards Ron, who yelped and covered his face with his hands, but the birds attacked, pecking and clawing at every bit of flesh they could reach. Sevira grabbed my hand, I looked at our hands but looked back at Ron who was struggling with the birds.   
“Gerremoffme!” He yelled, but with one last look of vindictive fury, Hermione wrenched the door open and disappeared through it. Ron looked at me and quickly left, leaving me and Sevira alone.   
Sevira let go of my hand and I felt suddenly colder. She sat on the desk and slumped a little, I sat beside her on the same desk.   
“Not quite the friendship in paradise is it?” I commented looking down at my white trainers.   
“Not quite.” She replied bluntly. I glanced at her, she was looking out the darkened window.  
“So, are you ever going to tell me who Malfoy was disguised as?” I asked. Sevira scoffed slightly.   
“No I am not. If I say anything and I lose friends like Ron and Hermione, I would rather not risk it.” Sevira stated with a sigh. I slumped a little. I conjured a music player and played abba. Abba was always played at the Dursleys. Aunt Petunia had a strange fondness for them and I guessed I got attached to them as once Petunia danced with me around her kitchen until Uncle Vernon came in and screamed at her. I played The winner takes it all. I slid off the desk and offered her my hand. She looked at it and I pushed my hand out more insisting that she took it. She took it. Her skin was soft.   
“Dance with me” I said, pulling her close to me with the music I couldn’t help to relate to played in the background. She placed her head on my shoulder and we just swayed, I twirled her around and we continued to sway. My mind drifted to the other night when she was kissing Draco. I imagined her kissing me then. Why? Did I like her like that? Sevira sighed leaning in my shoulder. It was more of a hug than a dance position. I didn’t care. Her hair smelled like roses and new books…. My amortentia was her. It smelt like her. No it can’t be. It is Ginny I am sure of it.   
Seviras hands were on my chest. I couldn’t tell if she was smiling or not.  
“You love Ginny, I am sure of it,” Sevira whispered. I sighed.   
“Stop reading my mind!” I said. Sevira looked up at me and rolled her eyes.   
“I wouldn’t be able to read your mind if you wanted to start your occlumency lessons!” Sevira said into my shoulder.   
“Fine, we will start now then” I said, pushing her gently off me. Sevira smirked. I turned off the music.   
“Are you ready?” Sevira asked a few minutes later, pointing her wand at me. I gulped. I nodded. “Legilimens!”. I tried to disarm her but nothing. Image after image was racing through my mind like a flickering film so vivid it blinded me to my surroundings just like before in Snape’s office.   
I was in the ministry of magic, watching Sirius going into the veil… Kissing Cho in the room of requirement in my 5th year…. Hagrid being sent to Azkaban. I fell back onto the chair in the abandoned classroom. Sevira groaned in frustration.   
“That was an extremely poor attempt. Again!” Sevira said, allowing me to stand back up. “Let go of all emotion..”   
Try after try but I didn’t improve. And the more and more I failed at it the more Sevira got angry.   
“Legilimens” She said again. The room spun from under me and now I was seeing the 2nd challenge of the triwizard tournament…. Then Cedric lay dead on the grass.   
“NOOOOO!” I screamed as I fell onto the cold floor.   
“Get up! You are not even trying, you are making zero effort. You are allowing me access to memories you fear!” Sevira looked paler and angrier than usual.   
“I am making an effort!” I said through clenched teeth. Sevira just scoffed.   
“Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow them to be provoked so easily- weak people in other words, they stand no chance against the Dark Lords powers” Sevira said. Snape said the exact same thing. I stood back.   
“I am not weak Sevira.” I said in a low voice, I could feel the anger I felt towards Snape during Occlumency lessons. “You are so much like your cousin Snape” I commented. Sevira just laughed mockingly.   
“You are making no effort Harry,” Sevira said, seeming to calm down.   
“I am trying, alright?” I stood up quickly. Sevira just sighed and placed her wand back into her pocket.  
“That is enough for tonight. How about getting some hot chocolate and going to bed?” Sevira said. The anger faded and we walked down to the kitchens unfortunately walking into Professor Snape.  
“It is almost curfew... “ He drew out, folding his arms. Sevira just sighed tiredly.   
“Sorry, Professor. I was giving Harry an Occlumency lesson, Dumbledore asked me to.” Sevira replied with a glare. Snape looked at her coldly.   
“Good luck with that. Teaching him Occlumency is like teaching a snail how to dance. It is impossible.” Snape sneered. I just glared at him.   
“Maybe, I will try to treat him with respect.” Sevira said in reply. Snape glared at her.   
“20 points from Gryffindor for your cheek. You may go get some hot chocolate but be back in your common room in ten minutes.” Snape sneered and walked off, his cloak billowing behind him.   
We got into our common room that was completely empty and flopped into the armchairs with our hot chocolates.   
“Why do you think it is difficult to teach me?” I asked, placing my drink on the oak table in front of the blazing fire. Sevira placed her mug on her lap and looked at me with a knowing smirk.   
“I believe it is because you are letting your emotions take advantage of you. I want you to clear out your mind before going to bed. Surely Snape told you to do that last year?” Sevira said, finishing her drink and placing it on the table.   
“Yes he did. I could never do that though. I always seemed to struggle.” I replied, staring into the warm blaze of the fire.   
“Sorry for getting frustrated earlier with you. I shouldn’t have done that.” Sevira said quietly.   
“Don’t apologise, I would be frustrated if you had to teach me too” I shrugged it off.   
Christmas was fast approaching as the snow was swirling against the icy windows once more. Hagrid, the gamekeeper single handedly delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees for the Great Hall; garlands of holly and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of the stairs: everlasting candles glowed from within the helmets of suits of armour and great bunches of mistletoe had been hung at intervals along the corridors. Unfortunately for me, all the girls seemed to congregate under them whenever I walked past but luckily I knew all the secret passageways avoiding the places where the mistletoe were.   
Ron seemed to roar with laughter about it all. Although I preferred this new laughing, joking Ron to the moody, aggressive model I had been enduring for the last few weeks, the improved Ron came at a heavy price. Firstly, I had to put up with the frequent presence of Lavender Brown, who seemed to regard any moment that she was not kissing Ron as a moment wasted; and secondly, I found myself, once more,the best friend of two people who seemed unlikely to ever speak to each other again.   
Ron, whose hands and forearms still bore scratches and cuts from Hermione’s bird attack, was taking a defensive and resentful tone.  
“She can’t complain,” He told me. “She snogged Krum. So she has found out someone wants to snog me too. Well it is a free country. I haven’t done anything wrong.”  
I did not answer, but pretended to be absorbed in my book we were supposed to read before Charms tomorrow. Determined as I was to remain friends with both Ron and Hermione. I was spending a lot of the time with my mouth shut.   
“I never promised Hermione anything,” Ron mumbled. “I mean, all right, I was going to go to Slughorn’s Christmas party with her but she never said...just as friends… I am a free agent…”  
I turned the page of Quintessence, aware that Ron was watching me. His voice tailed away in mutters, barely audible over the loud crackling of the fire, though I thought I heard the words ‘Krum’ and ‘can’t complain’ again.   
Hermione’s timetable was so full that I could only talk to her in the evenings, when Ron was in any case so tightly wrapped around Lavender that he did not notice what I was doing. Hermione refused to sit in the common room while Ron was there, so I joined her in the library. Sevira was always with Hermione trying to keep her company. We had to talk in whispers.   
“He is at perfect liberty to kiss whoever he likes” Hermione said, while the librarian, Madam Pince, prowled the shelves behind us. “I could not care less”  
Sevira was writing notes in her notebook. I looked over to see the heading ‘Occlumency’ . I wanted to cry. Hermione raised her quill and dotted ‘i’ so ferociously that she punctured a hoile in her parchment. I said nothing. I began to think that my voice will vanish from lack of use. I bent a little over Advanced Potion-Making and continued to make notes on Everlasting Elixirs, occasionally pausing to decipher the Prince’s useful additions to Libatius Borage’s text.   
“And incidentally,” said Hermione, after a few moments. “You need to be careful”  
“For the last time Hermione, I am not giving this book back. I have learned more from this book than Slughorn and Snape.” I said hoarsely as I haven’t spoken in so long.  
“I’m not talking about that. I am talking about earlier. I went into the girl’s bathroom just before I came in here and there were about a dozen girls in there, including Romilda Vane, trying to decide how they are going to slip you a love potion. Don’t ask how they got them. But you can blame Fred and George for that one. Anyway, they were hoping the love potions will make you want to bring them to Slughorn’s party.” Hermione said quietly. Sevira scoffed.   
“Silly girls. He will ask Ginny.” Sevira said bluntly. Hermione went slightly red.   
“In fact, Ginny is going with Dean Thomas, So you will have to find someone else to take.” Hermione stated, folding her parchment and placing it in her bag.   
“Sevira? I know you are already going but would you want to go with me?” I asked, smiling.   
“No, I have already asked someone.” Sevira said with a softer tone.   
“Who?” I asked, with a puzzled look.   
“Draco Malfoy.” She said, without looking at me. Hermione looked at Sevira in shock.   
“You mean the guy who disguised himself and kissed you?” Hermione asked a bit louder.   
“He apologised for it and he treats me nice.” Sevira said whilst she packed her bag. I sat there frozen.   
“You mean the guy who tried to kill you with the imperius curse!” I said, with anger.   
“We don’t know he did it.” Sevira said, shrugging.   
“Oh come off it! He did and you know it!” I said, raising my voice.   
“I don’t know that! Why can’t you just let me be happy!” Sevira said, walking quickly out of the library.   
I went to bed at 7pm, I didn’t want to talk to Ron or Hermione or Sevira for that matter. Was she taking him just to annoy me? She knows, I suspect him and know he is up to something. I found comfort that there was only one more day of lessons to struggle through, plus Slughorn’s party where I will have to avoid girls who want me to drink a love potion. Walking back to my common room was dangerous enough as Romilda Vane gave me chocolate’s I knew had the love potion in it. I was placed on my nightstand. After Slughorn’s party me and Ron will depart together for The Burrow. It seemed impossible now that Ron and Hermione would make up with each other before the holidays began, but maybe a break from each other will do them some good. I began wondering where Sevira will be going. I am assuming she will stay here or be with Draco. Next she will be joining the Death eaters.   
I approached Slughorn’s office alone. I did invite Luna to go with me but she didn’t show up. I could hear the sounds of laughter, music and loud conversation were growing louder every step I took.   
Whether it had been built that way, or because Slughorn had used magical trickery to make his office much larger than the usual teachers study. The ceiling and walls were draped with emerald, crimson and gold hangings, so it looked like we were in a vast tent. The room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in red light cast by an ornate golden lamp dangling from the centre of the ceiling which real fairies were fluttering. Loud singing accompanied by what sounded like mandolins issued from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over several elderly warlocks who were deep in conversation.  
“Harry, m’boy!” Slughorn boomed, almost as soon as I squeezed through the door. “Come in, come in, so many people I would like to meet!”   
Slughorn was wearing a tassel velvet hat to match his smoking jacket. He gripped my arm so tightly, I thought he wanted to disapparate with him. Slughorn led me purposefully into the party.   
“Harry, I would like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine and his friend Sanguini.”   
Worple, who was a small man, grabbed my hand and shook it enthusiastically; the vampire Sanguini, was tall and emancipated with dark shadows under his eyes, merely nodded. He looked rather bored. A group of girls were standing close to him, looking curious and excited.   
“Harry Potter, I am simply delighted!” Worple said, peering up to my face. “I was saying to Professor Slughorn only the other day, Where is the biography of Harry Potter for which we have all been waiting?”  
“Er, were you?” I looked at Slughorn who went a deep red.   
“Just as modest as Horace described!” Worple said. “But seriously- I would be delighted to write it myself - people are craving to know more about you, dear boy. Craving! If you were prepared to grant me a few interviews, say in four or five hour sessions. You would have the book done in months - Saguni! Stay here. Here is a pasty.” Worple was interrupted when he noticed his vampire was edging closer to the group of girls with a hungry look in his eyes.   
“I am not interested in writing, now I must go. I have just spotted my friend.” Before Worple could reply I walked off quickly towards the brown mane of hair who was standing in the corner.   
“Hermione!” I shouted.   
“Oh Harry!” She replied, turning to face me. Her hair was a mess.   
“What has happened to you?” I asked. Hermione tried to fix her hair with her hands.   
“Oh, I have just left Cormac under the mistletoe,” she said. I looked at her with a puzzled look. She just rolled her eyes.   
“Serves you right for coming with him” I told her severely.   
“I thought he would annoy Ron the most, I even considered asking Zacharis Smith, but I decided against it…”   
“You considered Smith!” I pretended to vomit.   
“Yes I did, and I am starting to think I should have asked him. Cormac makes Snape look like a gentleman. Let’s go this way, we will be able to see him coming! He is so tall…” Hermione trailed off looking behind me. I turned to see Draco who was wearing a black suit and Sevira who was wearing a burgundy strappy satin cowl midi dress with a red lip. She looked absolutely beautiful. Her hair was in a french braid bun. Everyone around them looked and stared at her.   
I turned around to Hermione who began walking to the other side of the room, picking up goblets of mead on our way.   
I watched Sevira talk to Draco. I wanted to kill him and I couldn’t explain why. That monstrous rage was back in my stomach.   
“You should have asked her earlier, if you liked her that much” Hermione said, sipping her mead.   
“What do you mean?” I asked, keeping my eyes locked on Sevira. Sevira looked at me and smiled but quickly turned to face Draco who was holding her by her waist. He looked smitten and I hated it.   
“We all know you like her!” Hermione said, with a smirk. I just rolled my eyes.   
“As a friend!” I replied.   
“Now you are lying to yourself.” Hermione quipped. I faced her and looked into her eyes. I slumped slightly.   
“I know, it is easier for me to say that'' I replied honestly. I knew that I wanted her. I knew I wanted to kiss Sevira until I couldn’t breathe anymore.   
“You and me both. But let her be happy. If she chooses Draco. Let her.” Hermione said, with sad eyes. I looked up to see Slughorn approaching us with Sevira and Draco beside him.   
“Hello everyone! I want to introduce a new member of the Slug Club. Draco Malfoy.” Slughorn announced to my horror. Draco smiled evilly at me. I groaned.   
“Oh, let’s not hate each other - Severus!” Slughorn grabbed Snape's arm and pulled us towards us to my horror. “Stop skulking and come and join us. I was about to say that Harry here seems to be a natural at potions!” said Slughorn happily.   
Snape was trapped as Slughorn held him tightly around the shoulders. Snape looked down his hooked nose at me and his black eyes narrowed.   
“Funny, I never had the impression that I managed to teach Potter anything at all.” Snape said.   
“Well it must be natural for him!” shouted Slughorn “You should have seen what he gave me in the first lesson. The Draught of the Living Death - never had a student produce finer on a first attempt, I would even say he is as good as you were as a young thing.”  
“Really?” Snape said quietly, his eyes still boring into my head. The last thing I wanted was for him to start investigating how I got so good at potions.   
“He has a textbook that helps him.” Sevira quipped, placing her arm around Draco’s waist. I glared at her. Snape looked at her and raised his eyebrows in suspicion.   
“What book?” Snape asked slowly. He looked at me with a smirk.   
“Oh, his textbook from Flourish and Blotts but this one was written on.” Hermione interjected. I looked at both of them in shock. “It apparently belonged to someone with the nickname ‘The Half Blood Prince’. But Harry won’t be using it anymore right?” she continued. I just nodded. I wanted to leave.   
“Well, you are still talented Harry. Those notes are most likely wrong” Slughorn assured with a smile. I looked down. “Remind me, what subjects you are taking.” Slughorn changed the subject.   
“Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology…”   
“All subjects required to be an auror” said Snape in a faint sneer. I gulped and nodded.   
“So, Draco. How is it being around someone who’s friends with me?” I asked with a glare. Draco just looked at me with cold eyes. He looks ill. I wanted to laugh at it.   
“I know all your little secrets…” He replied. I looked at Sevira who looked at Draco.   
“No I haven’t Harry. Don’t even joke about that Draco.” Sevira said, removing herself from Malfoy. I smirked and so did Hermione. Snape and Slughorn just looked at us all.   
“You can’t be friends with these Blood traitors.” Draco sneered at her. Sevira glared at him.   
“For have you know, I will be friends with whoever I want to. And they aren’t blood traitors. You are one!” Sevira said, moving to stand in front of me. Draco pulled his wand and pointed it at Sevira.   
“You are a filthy half-breed. You should be friends with that mudblood there.” Draco said evilly. I was ready to push Sevira out of the way.   
“Draco!” Slughorn shouted. “Enough!” Snape roared at him. For the first time, Snape looked livid at Malfoy. A bolt of light came flying out of his wand “Crucio!” Draco shouted and Sevira let out a scream. Everyone in the room turned to face us. No one in the room moved or spoke. I tried to move but couldn’t. It felt like my feet were glued to the ground and so did everyone else’s.   
“Harry, he has used the sticking charm on all of us!” Hermione screamed out. Sevira screamed and fell to the ground shaking in pain.   
“Stop! YOU ARE HURTING HER!” I yelled. Trying to get my wand from my pocket but couldn’t as my hands were stuck to my sides.   
“Why do you care Potter!” Draco sneered.   
“She is innocent! Please Malfoy. I am begging you. Please stop” I said panicking. At this point Sevira had stopped screaming but she lay on the floor in front of me with blood running from her nose. She was still being tortured but she used a spell so I couldn’t hear her scream. I could see the pain in her eyes.   
“Draco Stop. that is an order!” Snape ordered. Draco looked at him and withdrew his wand. I fell forward as the sticking charm came off. I dropped to my knees in front of Sevira. Hermione did the same and placed her hand on my back Draco ran out and Snape followed him. I could see the anger radiate from Snape’s shoulders. Sevira wasn’t awake. With blood running from her nose, her eyes and even her ears. Slughorn waved his wand and all the blood was gone off the floor.   
“Right, parties over.” Slughorn said defeatedly. I placed a hand on Seviras cheek. Her eyes opened slowly.   
“Hi…” She trailed off. I just looked at Hermione who had tears streaming down her cheeks.   
At that moment, Dumbledore and Madam Ponfrey came running into the room with Snape following them.   
“Headmaster! Please help her!” I screamed, tears cascading down my cheeks. Hermione flung her arms around me tightly. Pomfrey was scanning Sevira for internal injuries. Dumbledore made his way towards me and wrapped his arms around the two of us.   
“Everything will be okay. She will be fine. I promise you” He soothed. Snape stood there awkwardly. I felt bad for him and I didn’t know why.   
“No internal injuries. She will be okay. If she takes some rest in her bed. I would say she can stay in the hospital wing but we have a bout of the flu. I don’t think it would be right.” Pomfrey instructed and Dumbledore let go of us and nodded.   
“Will Malfoy be punished?” I sniffed. I looked at Snape now.   
“Yes Potter. He will be.” Snape said. Snape seemed to look at me with a sad gaze. He left immediately after. What was that about?


	6. The Frosty Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzeLT2iSfPXgcPyQBh-hjPAMecA9rLe4b
> 
> I made up a broom name by the way. I know it doesn't exist.

“Sevira will be fine. Pomfrey did say she will be fine at Hogwarts. Stop worrying” Ron said over the kitchen sink.   
“If you say that one more time, I am going to stick this sprout where the sun doesn’t shine” I said.   
“I was just making sure you knew!” Ron said. We were standing alone at The Burrow’s kitchen sink, peeling a mountain of sprouts for Mrs Weasley. Snow was drifting past the window in front of our eyes. It was quite beautiful.  
“I know she will be fine but I have to tell you what I had heard before we left for the train” I said.   
-Two days earlier -   
I walked down the corridor on my way to see Slughorn. He wanted to see me to talk about the events of the night previously. My feets felt heavy like I was carrying rocks on my back. I just felt nothing. Nothing mattered. Well except punishing Draco but surely Snape or even Dumbledore will attend to that. I heard talking from one of the classrooms as I walked to the dungeons. I leaned against the door to listen.   
“... cannot afford mistakes, Draco, because if you are expelled -”  
“I didn’t do anything! She deserved it anyhow.”  
“No she didn’t, I don’t know where this anger is coming from but it can be aimed at someone else. You are already suspected to be up to something” Snape said, with annoyance.   
“Who suspects me?” Malfoy said angrily. “For the last time, I haven’t done anything that is questionable. Stop looking at me like that! I know what you are trying to do. I am not stupid, but it won’t work - I can stop you!!”  
There was a long pause before I heard Snape reply “Ah… Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, I see. What thoughts are you trying to conceal from your master?”   
“I am not trying to conceal anything from him! I just don’t want people like you to read my mind!” Draco scoffed.   
I placed my ear closer to the keyhole so I could hear better. What happened that made Malfoy speak to Snape like this? He had shown nothing but respect towards his teacher but now he seems completely different.   
“So that is why you have been avoiding me this term? You have feared my interference? You realise that, had anybody else failed to come to my office when I had told them repeatedly to be there, Deaco-”  
“So put me in detention” Report me to Dumbledore!” jeered Malfoy.   
There was another pause which made me think they were about to walk out the room.   
“You know perfectly well that I do not wish to do either of those things” Snape said.   
“You better stop telling me to come to your office then!” Malfoy said.   
“Listen to me, I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the unbreakable vow, Draco” Snape said in a low tone that I had to push myself harder on the door to hear.   
“Looks like you will have to break it, then, because I don’t need your protection! It is my job, he gave it to me and I am doing it. I have a plan and It is going to work, it is just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!” Draco sneered.   
“What is your plan?” Snape asked.   
“It is none of your business!” Draco replied harshly.   
“I quite understand that your father’s capture and imprisonment has upset you but -”   
I barely heard the rest as I heard Malfoy approach the door and I ran down the corridor without looking back. My mind was racing.   
Present day -   
“An Unbreakable Vow?” Ron said, looking stunned. “Nah, he can’t have… are you sure?”  
“Yes I am sure, what does it mean?” I asked, Ron looked slightly uncomfortable.   
“Well you can’t break an Unbreakable vow or you will die. Fred and George tried to get me to do one when I was five but Dad found us. He went mental” Ron said with a reminiscent gleam in his eyes. “Only time I have ever seen Dad as angry as Mum. Fred reckons his left buttock has never been the same since”  
“Yeah well. Passing over Fred’s left buttock - “  
“I beg your pardon!” Fred said as he and George walked into the kitchen area. George laughed at us.   
“Aaah, George, look at this. They are using knives and everything. Bless them -”   
“I will be seventeen in two and half months time” Ron said grumpily. “And then I will be able to do it by magic!”  
“But meanwhile, we can enjoy watching you demonstrate the correct of a - whoops-a-daisy” said George sitting down at the kitchen table. Ron had cut himself with the knife.  
“You made me do that!” said Ron angrily, sucking his cut thumb. “You wait until I am seventeen!”   
“I am sure you will dazzle us all with your hitherto unsuspected magical skills” said Fred.   
“Speaking of hitherto unsuspected skills, Ronald. What is this we hear from Ginny about you and a young lady, Lavender Brown?” said George folding his arms.   
Ron turned a bit pink but did not look any what displeased as he turned back to the sprouts.  
“Mind your business” Ron mumbled.  
“What a snappy retort,” said Fred. “I really don’t know how you think of them. No, what we wanted to know was… how did it happen?”  
“What do you mean?” Ron asked, turning around.  
“Did she have an accident or something?”  
“What?”  
“Well, how did she sustain such extensive brain damage? Careful now!”  
Mrs Weasley entered the room just in time to see Ron through the sprouts knife at Fre, who turned it into a paper aeroplane with one lazy flick of his wand. I laughed slightly.   
“Ron!” she said furiously. “Don’t you ever let me see you throwing knives around!”  
“I won't,” Ron said. “Let you see” he whispered as he went back to his sprout mountain. I just smirked and went back to the sprouts.   
“Fred, George, I am sorry, dears, but Remus is arriving tonight, so Bill will have to share with you to and as Charlie and Percy isn’t coming home that leaves Harry and Ron in the attic, and if Fleur shares with Ginny-”  
“-That will make Ginny’s day! -” muttered Fred.   
“ - everyone should be comfortable. Well they will have a bed, anyway.” said Mrs Weasley looking slightly harassed.   
George and Fred went into the village to talk to a girl who liked their “magic tricks” and I continued to peel sprouts with Ron.   
“Are you going to tell Dumbledore what you heard Snape and Malfoy saying to each other?” Ron asked.  
“Yep, I am going to tell anyone who can put a stop to it and Dumbledore is at the top of my list but I should also talk to your dad also,” I said with confidence. Whatever Malfoy is doing with Snape, I will make sure it doesn’t happen whatever it is.  
“Pity you didn’t hear what Malfoy is planning to do” Ron said, sighing.   
“I couldn’t have done it, could I? That was the whole pont, he was refusing to tell Snape” I replied.  
“They are just going to say that Snape was only trying to find out what Draco was doing and that he isn’t working for a death eater.” said Ron.   
“Well they didn’t hear them both in that classroom did they? No one is that good of an actor, not even Snape.” I said flatly.   
“I believe you, don’t worry about that. But they are all convinced that Snape is in the Order, aren’t they?” asked Ron hastily.  
I said nothing. It had already occurred to me that this would most likely objection to my new evidence; I could hear Hermione now:  
‘Obviously, Harry, he was pretending to offer help so he could trick Malfoy into telling him what he was doing’.  
This is what I imagine she would say, it isn’t like I could ask her now. I haven’t seen her since that night. That night. The night I wish I would forget. I shivered slightly, which caused Ron to look at me in concern. I waved him off.   
I never got the chance to speak to Mr Weasley as he was working very long hours at the Ministry, until Christmas eve night.   
Guests arrived eventually and we all sat in the living room that Ginny decorated. We were supposed to be listening to a Christmas broadcast by Mrs Weasley’s favourite singer, Celestina Warbeck, whose voice was warbling out of a large wooden wireless. Fleur, who seemed to find Celestina very dull, was talking so loudly in the corner that a scowling Mrs Weasley kept turning up the volume of the wireless. Fred and George started a game of Exploding Snap with Ginny. Ron kept shooting Bill and Fleur covert looks as though hoping to pick up any tipes. Meanwhile, Remus Lupin, thinner and more ragged looking, was sitting beside the fire, staring into the depths as though he could not hear Celestina’s voice. I stared at the window that was frosted over.   
“Harry, a letter has arrived for you” Bill said walking back from the kitchen. He passed it to me and I opened it. I was highly aware that Remus was looking over my shoulder. 

Dear Mr Potter (Harry)  
Merry Christmas! I thought I should write to you considering it is the holidays. I am spending it here at Hogwarts. Unfortunately Draco decided to stay as well so I have been trying to avoid him. I hope you are well and enjoying your holidays at the..Burrow? Anyway, send my love to Mr Weasley (Ron) for me.   
Sincerely,   
Sevira T Prince. 

I smiled down at the letter before quickly folding it and putting it in my pocket. I looked over at Remus who was smirking.   
“Who is Sevira? I don’t believe I have met her” Remus asked.   
“She is my friend, she just arrived this year. She was home schooled before.” I said, smiling a little.   
“What is she doing this Christmas?” Mrs Weasley interrupted. I just sighed and looked at her.   
“She doesn’t have anywhere to go so she is staying at Hogwarts.” I said sadly.   
“Why is she avoiding Draco?” Remus asked suspiciously.   
“He… performed the cruciatus curse on her a few days ago.” I said quietly. Mrs Weasley stood up abruptly and the rest of the room fell into complete silence apart from the radio.   
“And you didn’t invite her here! Fred disapparate to Hogwarts and get her. She is not spending this holiday alone!” Mrs Weasley said in panic. I just sat silently.   
“Not to worry Molly, I am sure she is fine but yes I would go get her.” Remus said with a smirk and turned back to the fire. Fred stood up and ran out of the door. I looked over at Ron who was looking at me with concern. Ginny on the other hand seemed to be in a sudden mood. She huffed and walked up the creaky stairs. At that moment Mr Weasley appeared from the kitchen looking tired.   
“Has it been busy at the ministry?” I asked as he sat beside me with a huge sigh.   
“Very. I wouldn’t mind it if we were going anywhere, but of the three arrests we have made in the last couple of months, I doubt that one of them is a genuine Death Eater - only don’t repeat that Harry” Mr Weasley said looking much more awake than a few minutes ago.  
“They aren’t still holding Stan Shunpike, are they?” I asked.   
“I am afraid so. I know that Dumbledore tried appealing but the ministry is not wanting to make these arrests look like mistakes. Don’t repeat that Harry” He continued.   
“I won’t say anything!” I promised. I hesitated for a moment wondering if it was a good idea to bring up the Draco-Snape situation.   
“Do you remember what I said before leaving for Hogwarts in September?” I asked Mr Weasley who rubbed his eyes tiredly.   
“I checked, Harry. I went and searched the Malfoys’ house. There was nothing, either broken or whole, that shouldn’t have been there… I saw the Prophet that you’d looked… but this is something different… well something more…” Mr Weasley said.   
I began to tell Mr Weasley every I had overheard between Malfoy and Snape. As I spoke I had noticed Lupin looking around from the fire taking everything I was saying in. When I had finished all was silent except Celestina on the radio.  
“Has it occurred to you that Snape was simply simply pretending..” said Mr Weasley.  
“Pretending to offer help, so that he could find out what Malfoy is up to?” I said quickly. “Yeah,I thought you were going to say that. But, how do we know?”  
“It isn’t our business to know,” said Lupin unexpectedly. He turned to face me and Arthur again. “It is Dumbledore’s business. Dumbledore trusts Severus, and that ought to be good enough for all of us.”  
“But, just say Dumbledore is wrong about Snape -” I said quickly.   
“People have said it many times. It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore’s judgement. I do; therefore. I trust Severus” Lupin said seriously.   
“But he makes mistakes. He has said it himself.” I said, noticing a person with red hair walk past the window from the corner of my eye.   
“You are determined to hate Severus aren’t you?” asked Lupin with a faint smile.   
“No,” I said quickly.   
“Yes you are! Trust Dumbledore.” said Lupin. He looked annoyed at me so I shrunk a little.   
“What have you been up to then?” I asked, changing the subject. Mr Weasley decided to get some eggnog for everyone.   
“Oh, I have been underground, I have been spying on all the other werewolves like me. They are all on Voldemort’s side so I was asked to spy on them by Dumbledore. I am not complaining mind. But they have been shunned to the outskirts and killing for something to eat. It is sick really. They think that under Voldemort’s rule they will have a better life. And it is hard to argue with Greyback out there…” Lupin said.   
“Who’s Greyback?” I asked, looking at Lupin.   
“A big scary werewolf” said someone walking into the living room. Me and Lupin looked up to see Sevira in her cloak standing there. She smiled awkwardly. I patted the space beside me and she sat down.  
“No, Fenrir Greyback is, perhaps, the most savage werewolf alive today. He regards it as his mission in life to bite and to contaminate as many people as possible; he wants to create enough werewolves to overcome the wizards. Voldemort has promised him prey in return for his services, Greyback specialises in children…” Lupin trailed off.   
“He bit you didn’t he?” Sevira asked him. Lupin looked at her in confusion.   
“How do you know that?” He asked. “Who told you that?” He asked after a few seconds. He looked worried. I looked at Sevira who started to look confused.   
“I don’t know….” She trailed off, looking panicked. Lupin just sighed.   
“You are not wrong. My father had offended him and….. Greyback believes that we werewolves deserve blood, that we ought to revenge ourselves on normal people” Lupin said sadly.   
“But you are normal!” I said fiercely. “You have just got a problem -”  
“Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my ‘furry little problem’ in company, Many people were under the impression that I had a badly behaved rabbit.” Lupin said while accepting a glass of Eggnog from Mr Weasley, looking slightly more cheerful. Mr Weasley looked at Sevira in confusion.   
“Oh, that is Harry’s friend Sevira Prince, Arthur” Lupin said smiling at her. Lupin seemed to like her.   
“Are you related to Severus by any chance?” Mr Weasley asked, sitting down beside her. Lupin looked at her with a look of surprise. I just wanted to laugh.   
“I am his cousin… Sorry if that is an issue” she said, looking at Lupin.   
“It isn’t an issue. So tell me Sevira, how is Harry treating you?” Lupin asked, raising his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes.   
“Uh, he is treating me fine, sir.” Sevira looked slightly perplexed. Lupin just smiled.   
“I am not my father Lupin. I wouldn’t treat her badly like my dad did to Snape” I said, I felt slightly offended.   
“Of course not and it wasn’t just your father bullying Severus. I was partly responsible.” Lupin said with a sad sigh. Sevira tensed up slightly.   
“Well, let's move on.” Mr Weasley said, noticing that Sevira had become tense.   
“Do you know how the Half-Blood Prince is?” I asked Lupin. He shook his head.   
“The Half-Blood what?”   
“Prince.” I said watching him closely for signs of recognition. Lupin chuckled.   
“Is this a new nickname you are thinking of adopting? I thought The Chosen One was good enough!” Lupin said with a smile.   
“It has nothing to do with me!” I said indignantly. “The Half-Blood Prince is someone who used to go to Hogwarts, I have got his old Potion’s book. He wrote spells all over it, spells he invented. One of them was Levicorpus -”  
“Oh, that one had great vogue during my time at Hogwarts. There were a few months in my fifth year when you couldn’t move because of being hoisted into the air by your ankle” Lupin said reminiscently.   
“My dad used it,” I said. “I saw him in Snape’s memory last year”  
I tried to sound casual, as though this was a throwaway comment of no real importance, but I was not sure I had achieved the real effect; Lupin’s smile was a little too understanding.   
“Yes but he was not the only one. As I say, it was very popular… you know how these spells come and go…” he said.   
“But is sounds like it was invented while you were at school” I persisted and Lupin just sighed,   
“Your dad was a pureblood was he not? So he couldn’t be the Half-Blood Prince” Sevira said, reading my mind.   
“I suppose not, and stop reading my mind” I commented which made her smile slightly. “I guess Sirius or you aren’t the Prince?” I asked sadly.   
“Definitely not Harry '' Lupin said, looking impressed at Sevira’s ability.   
“Oh” I said, staring into the fire. “I just thought as the Prince has helped me a lot in Potion classes.”   
“How old is this book?” Lupin asked.   
“I dunno, I have never checked,” I said, looking at him.   
“Well that will give you some clue as to when the Prince was at Hogwarts. Sevira do you know who it is?” Lupin asked.   
“No not definitely. I do believe that the Prince is Professor Snape but Harry doesn’t believe so.” she admitted.   
“Interesting. It would make sense.” Lupin said, turning back to the fire. I looked at Sevira and smiled. Mrs Weasley coughed grabbing our attention.   
“Now, we need to figure out where Sevira will be sleeping,” Mrs Weasley said hoping for some ideas.  
“I brought my blow up bed. I use it to sleep on at home.” Sevira said, pulling out a small push and pulled out a huge blue blow up bed.   
“Impressive” Ron commented.   
“Wait, you don’t have a proper bed at home?” Mr Weasley asked quickly. Sevira just shook her head.   
“She can share the attic with me and Harry?” Ron suggested, looking at his mum. She just nodded. She seemed shocked to speak.   
“I want all of you to go to bed except the adults. I want to talk to Sevira” She said and everyone sighed and walked off. I walked up the stairs but sitting out of sight so I could overhear. Ron sat behind me.   
“Tell me, what is it like at home when you lived there that is?”” Mrs Weasley asked gently.   
“Uh… I grew up in Cokeworth. We didn’t have much. My parents, one was a witch and the other a muggle didn’t have enough. They could only afford food and the bills. We didn’t have beds but slept on blow up beds that my dad found in the junk heap.” She admitted quietly. I couldn’t see her face but I could imagine she was trying to mask her emotions from the adults she barely knew.   
“My dear child. Right. You are to come here. Same with Harry. I will not let you starve!” Mrs Weasley said with assurance. I smiled.   
“What were your parents like?” Lupin asked, I could tell he was trying to learn everything about her.   
“Oh… uh… abusive to each other and to me. Uh… they wouldn’t allow me to wash or eat unless I had completed my lessons. I was homeschooled you see. They said that it was best for my mother Ms. Prince, was to teach me everything. They didn’t want me to be with other wizards. But they passed away so I stayed with my auntie Eileen Prince until she sent me to Hogwarts.” she said, sighing. I heard several gasps. I could hear Mrs Weasley wrap her arms around her. I looked behind me to see Ron looking shocked. I knew about this already. But I was nonetheless still shocked.   
“Right, that is enough. Head up to bed.” Molly instructed gently. I heard footsteps coming up the wooden stair and me and Ron ran up to the attic and sat on our beds. Sevira walked in with a sad expression but smiled at us both.   
“Hello, you two” she said with a fake smile. She tied her hair up into a ponytail and took pyjamas out of her small bag and left the room to get changed. Me and Ron quickly got dressed and got into bed.   
“Did you know?” Ron asked in a quiet whisper. I nodded sadly. “I feel so bad for her. At least now she will be able to stay here. I mean, it can’t be any worse from where she was living.”   
I just shrugged. Sevira walked through at the moment I was about to reply to Ron. She was wearing an emerald coloured striped satin shirt and shorts. Her hair was in a tight bun.   
“Ron, are you alright?” she asked, I turned to see Ron staring at her in what looked like fascination. I kicked him gently and he looked away blushing.   
“Yeah… I am fine.” He croaked out, turning to face away from us both. Sevira got into her blow up bed which she placed on the floor next to my camp bed. I turned the light off.   
Ron fell asleep almost immediately, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t stop thinking about the Half-blood Prince and who it belonged to. It wasn’t the Marauders. My mind went to werewolves, Snape, and Stan Shunpike.   
“Stop thinking about all of that Harry. Go to sleep” Sevira said in the darkness.   
“Stop reading my mind. I don’t like it” I complained. Sevira sighed. I could hear ruffles beside me.   
“Sorry, sometimes I can’t help it.” she whispered. I sighed.   
“It is fine.” I said closing my eyes and going into an uneasy sleep. I dreamt about everything but also Sevira and It wasn’t a bad dream.   
“She has to be joking…”  
I woke up with a start to find a bulging stoking lying over the end of my bed. I looked over at Sevira who was examining hers in confusion. I put on my glasses and looked around. The tiny window was almost completely obscured with snow and in front of it was Ron sitting bolt upright in bed and examining what appeared to be a thick gold chain.   
“What is that?” I asked.   
“It is from Lavender, she cannot possibly think I would wear this…” Ron said, showing me the chain. I looked closely and let out a shout of laughter. Dangling from the chain in large gold letters were the words ‘My Sweetheart’.   
“Nice. Classy. You should definitely wear it in front of Fred and George.” I said with laughter.   
“Oh god, that is hideous Ron.” Sevira said looking over to him. Ron just placed it on his bed.   
I looked through my stocking which included a sweater with a large golden snitch worked on the front, hand knitted by Mrs Weasley, a large box of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes products from the twins and a large brown package that came with a white label ‘To Harry, from Sevira’. I looked over at Sevira who was examining her sweater with close inspection.   
I quickly opened the brown package. It was a Firebolt 2001. I looked at it in amazement. There was another note attached to it. ‘I thought your firebolt was outdated. So I thought this might lighten your mood’ I looked over at Sevira who was smiling at me.   
“You gotta be joking with me! A Firebolt 2001!” Ron exclaimed, coming closer to examine it.   
“Ron, look in your stocking.” Sevira said, quietly. Ron grinned and grabbed the same looking package out. Ron opened it and grinned. He ran round his bed and picked up Sevira in a hug. I got off my bed and hugged her also.   
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Ron kept on saying as we opened the rest of our gifts. I glanced at Sevira who was looking at a book named Dark Art Magic.   
“Who is that from?” I asked looking over. Sevira placed the book out of sight.   
“Professor Snape. He said it is for students who are more advanced in his class.” Sevira said with a smile.   
“I didn’t get you anything. I am sorry.” I said, feeling guilty. “Wait… where did you get the money from?” I asked.   
“Oh, My aunt had an inheritance. She gave me some money. It wasn’t a lot but…” She trailed off looking down sadly.   
“It wasn’t a lot. These brooms cost a fortune. I can’t wait to shove this in my brother's faces!” Ron said running out of the room with his broom. I moved to sit beside her.   
“My Aunt was the only person who tried to care for me…” She said, I could see tears streaming down her pale cheeks. I just sighed.   
“I care for you… Ron cares for you… Hermione cares for you.” I said, trying to soothe her.   
“I know you do. I just miss her is all.” She said, leaning her head on my shoulder. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She leaned on me sniffling. “Right, enough tears. Lets go downstairs” She wiped her face and stood up.   
Christmas lunch went quickly. I didn’t pay much attention to it. I kept making sure Sevira was okay. She was.   
That night, I sat on my camp bed playing with a piece of thread when Ron came in looking concerned,   
“What is up Harry?” He asked, sitting beside me. “I can tell something is wrong. Tell me.”   
“I can't, well I am embarrassed to say” I replied.   
“C’mon. I am dating Lavender Brown, What is more embarrassing than that?” He replied.   
“Having a crush on Sevira that is what” I replied, scoffing.   
“That is not embarrassing. It was predictable, mind but not embarrassing.” Ron said with a chuckle. “We all knew you liked her. You can’t fool me. Just tell her.”   
“I can't,” I replied sadly.   
“Why not?” He asked.   
“I just - can’t Ron.” I said sadly. I knew it would be a loss cause to even ask. I mean she seems to like boys like Malfoy. I had no chance.


	7. The Wrong Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzeLT2iSfPXgcPyQBh-hjPAMecA9rLe4b

Late in the afternoon, a few days after New Year, we were all lined up beside the kitchen fire to return to Hogwarts. The Ministry has arranged this one-off connection to the Floo Network to return students quickly and safely to the school. Only Mrs Weasley was there to say goodbye as Mr Weasley, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur were all at work. Mrs Weasley dissolved into tears at the moment we were about to leave. It didn’t take much to set her off these days. Since Percy never came home for Christmas, Mrs Weasley was crying at mostly everything.   
“Don’t cry, mum” Ginny said, patting her on the back as Mrs Weasley sobbed into her shoulder. “It is OK…”  
“Yeah, don’t worry about us” Ron said, permitting his mother to plant a very wet kiss on his cheek, “or about Percy, He is a prat”  
Mrs Weasley sobbed harder than ever as she enfolded me into her arms.   
“Promise me you will look after yourself… stay out of trouble” she said.   
“I always do, Mrs Weasley. I like a quiet life, you know me” I joked. She gave a watery chuckle and stood back, turning to face Sevira.   
Mrs Weasley wrapped her arms around her tightly.   
“Be good and I will see you in the summer. Okay…?” Mrs Weasley said gently, letting her go.   
“I will see you then.” Sevira said, smiling gently.   
I stepped into the emerald fire and shouted “Hogwarts!”. I had one last fleeting view of the Weasleys’ kitchen and Mrs Weasley’s tearful face before the flames engulfed me; spinning very fast, I caught blurred glimpses of other wizarding rooms, which were whipped out of sight before I could get a proper look: then I was slowing down, finally stopping squarely in the fireplace in Professor McGonagall’s office. She barely glanced up from her work as I clambered out over the grate.   
“Evening, Potter. Try not to get too much ash on the carpet.”  
“No, Professor”  
I straightened my glasses and flattened my hair as Ron and Sevira came spinning into view. When Ginny arrived, all four of us trooped out of McGonagall’s office and off towards Gryffindor Tower. I glanced out of the corridor windows as we passed; the sun was already sinking over the grounds that were carpeted with snow. In the distance, I could see Hagrid feed Buckbeck in front of his cabin.   
“Baubles,” Ron said confidently, when we reached the Fat Lady, who was looking rather pale and winced at his loud voice.   
“No.” she said.  
“What do you mean, no?”   
“There is a new password and please don’t shout”  
“We have been away, how are we supposed to -?”  
“Harry! Sevira! Ginny!”  
I turned to see Hermione hurrying towards us, very pink-faced and wearing a cloak,hat and gloves.   
“I got back a couple of hours ago, I have just been down to see Hagrid. Did you have a good christmas?” said Hermione, taking off her gloves and putting them in her pocket.   
“Yeah, pretty eventful, Sevira -” said Ron at once.   
“I have got something for you and Sevira” Hermione said, not looking at Ron or giving any sign that she had heard Ron. “Oh, hang on. The password is Abstinence.”   
“Precisely” said the Fat Lady in a feeble voice and swung forwards to reveal the portrait hole.   
“What is up with her?” I asked. Hermione laughed as we climbed through the hole.   
“She overindulged over Christmas apparently” Hermione said rummaging through her pocket. She pulled out a scroll of parchment which had Dumbledore’s writing on it.  
“Great! I have loads to tell him- and you. Let’s sit down.” I said taking the scroll of her and then showing Sevira.  
But at that moment there was a loud squeal of ‘Won-Won’ and Lavender Brown came hurtling out of nowhere and flung herself into Ron’s arms. I saw that several onlookers sniggered; Hermione gave a tinkling laugh. “There is a table over here… coming. Ginny?” Hermione said.   
“No thanks, I said I would be meeting Dean,” Ginny said enthusiastically.. Leaving Ron and Lavender locked in a kind of vertical wrestling match, I led Hermione and Sevira over to the spare table.  
“So how was your christmas?” I asked her.   
“Oh, fine.” she shrugged. “Nothing special. How was it at Won-Won’s?” she said with a smirk.   
“I will tell you in a minute. Look Hermione, can’t you-?” I said. I was hoping by the end of the Christmas holiday’s Hermione and Ron would make amends. I thought wrong, I suspect.   
“No, I can't? So don’t even ask” she said flatly.  
“I thought that maybe after, you know, over christmas-”  
“Leave it Harry.” Sevira interjected. I noticed that Hermione was looking uncomfortable.   
“So what was this important news you wanted to tell me?” Hermione asked. I recounted everything I had overheard between Malfoy and Snape. When I had finished, Hermione sat in thought for a moment. “Don’t you think-?”  
“-he was pretending to offer help so that he could trick Malfoy into telling him what he is doing?” I said bluntly.   
“Well, yes” Hermione said, looking slightly confused.   
“Ron’s dad and Lupin think so but this definitely proves that Malfoy is planning something, you can’t deny that.” I said, raising one eyebrow.   
“No, I can't.” she answered slowly.   
“And he is acting on Voldemort’s orders, just like I said!” I said. Sevira sighed.   
“Maybe… but did you even actually hear his name being mentioned?” Sevira asked, looking slightly annoyed. I could see why as the rest of the holidays I would not stop talking about it.  
“No, I don’t think so… but Snape definitely said ‘your master’ and who else would it be?” I asked.   
“Maybe his father?” Hermione suggested. Sevira burst out laughing. Hermione and myself looked at her in confusion.   
“Sorry, His father? C’mon. I believe Harry in this one.” Sevira said, stifling a laugh.   
“So do I.” Hermione agreed.   
I looked at Hermione. I gave her a look of ‘I will talk to you later’. She smiled in response.   
The rest of the evening passed quietly. The new term was to begin tomorrow with a special prize for six years. I watched a first year pin a large sign to the common-room notice boards. I walked up to read it.   
APPARITION LESSONS  
If you are seventeen years of age, or will turn seventeen on or before the 31st  
of August, you are eligible for a twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons from a  
Ministry of Magic Apparition Instructor.   
Please sign below if you would like to participate.   
Cost: 12 Galleons   
We all signed our names at the bottom of the sign with our quills. Ron began to sign his name after Hermione when Lavender Brown came up behind him. Hermione walked away and me and Sevira caught up with her as we did not wish to stay and watch Lavender fawn over Ron. To my surprise, Ron caught up with us looking a bit red. Hermione said nothing and went to walk with Neville.  
“So - Apparition” Ron said, his tone making it perfectly clear that I was not to mention it. “Should be fun,eh?”  
“I dunno. Maybe it is better when you do it yourself. I did not enjoy it much when Dumbledore took me along for the ride” I said, shivering at the memory.   
“I better pass the first time, Fred and George did.” Ron said, looking anxious. Sevira just smirked.   
“I remember once my mother took me into Diagon Alley via Apparition. I hated it. I was sick in the corner so I am dreading these lessons but they are useful for traveling.” Sevira commented. I just smiled.   
“When can we actually take the test?” I asked, turning to face Ron.   
“Soon as we are seventeen! That is only in March for me. When is yours Sevira?” Ron asked, excitedly.  
“January 9th. So I will be taking it in March as well.” Sevira said. That is in 2 days.   
“That is in two day! We haven’t got you anything!” Ron exclaimed. Sevira just laughed.  
“I don’t like presents. So don’t worry about it.” she said.   
The next day went quickly. Everyone was talking about the Apparition course. I got frustrated as no one talked about anything else.  
“Harry, it is time to go,” Sevira said, shutting her book in the library. I nodded. We were sitting with Neville and Luna who were giving us confused looks.   
“We have detention with Snape.” I said at their confused faces. As we left, we both smiled at each other and ran to Dumbledore’s office.   
The lamps in Dumbledore’s office were lit, the portraits of previous headmasters were snoring gently in their frames and the pensieve was already upon the desk once more. Dumbledore’s hands lay either side of it, the right one as blackened and burned-looking as ever. It did not seem to have healed at all. I have already asked him how it happened but he never said.   
“I hear your Christmas went well at The Burrow?” Dumbledore observed.   
“Yes, Sevira came as well,” I said with a small smile.   
“Did you enjoy The Burrow, Sevira?” Dumbledore asked smiling.   
“Yes.” She said bluntly. I looked at her to see her yawn. Dumbledore smiled.   
“I am tired too. Now, is there anything you want to talk about before we press on?” Dumbledore asked, looking at me. I nodded.   
“It is about Snape and Malfoy, sir” I said. Sevira sighed.   
“It is Professor Snape, Harry,” Dumbledore said.   
“Yes, sir. I overheard him the day before we left for Christmas….”  
Dumbledore listened to me with an impressive face. Sevira just looked at me in annoyance. When I had finished, Dumbledore sat there for a few moments. “Thank you for telling me this, Harry. But I suggest that you put it out of your mind. I do not think that it is of great importance.” Dumbledore said.   
“Not a great importance?” I said incredulously. “Professor, did you understand -?”  
“Yes, Harry, blessed as I am with extraordinary brain power, I understand everything you told me,” Dumbledore said, a little sharply. “I think you might even consider the possibility that I understood more than you did. Again, I am glad you have confided in me, but let me reassure you that you have not told me anything that causes me disquiet.”  
I sat there in the seething silence, glaring at Dumbledore. What was going on? Did this mean that Dumbledore had indeed ordered Snape to find out what Malfoy was doing, in which case he had already heard everything I have just told him from Snape.  
“So, you definitely still trust -?”   
“I have been tolerant enough to answer that question already,” said Dumbledore, but he did not sound very tolerant any more. “My answer had not changed. Now, Sevira, how are Occlumency lessons going?” Dumbledore asked, glancing at Sevira.   
“We only had one which was about a month ago. Just been busy with school work but it didn’t go well. He can’t seem to be able to kick me out of his mind. I believe the issue is that he wears his emotions on his sleeve which is becoming a hindrance to him” Sevira said.   
“I don’t mean -” I started.   
“We know you don’t mean it, Harry. But that is what Professor Snape said when he wanted to cancel the lessons. You need to work on that. I suggest that every Wednesday night, every week for Occlumency lessons. And now, Harry, I must insist that we press on. I have more important things to discuss with you all this evening.” Dumbledore said.   
I sat there feeling mutinous. How would it be if I refused to permit the change of subject, if I insisted upon arguing my case against Malfoy? As though he read my mind, Dumbledore shook his head.  
“Ah, Harry, how often this happens, even between the best of friends! Each of us believes that what he has to say is much more important than anything the other might have to contribute!” said Dumbledore.   
“I don’t think what you have got to say is unimportant, sir,” I said stiffly.   
“Well, you are quite right, because it is not,” Dumbledore said briskly. “I have two more memories to show you this evening, both obtained with enormous difficulty, and the second of them is, I think, the most important I have collected.”   
I did not say anything to this; I still felt angry at the reception of my confidence I had received, but I could not see what was to be gained if I had argued further.   
“So, we meet this evening to continue the tale of Tom Riddle, who we left last lesson poised on the threshold of his years at Hogwarts. You and Sevira will remember how excited he was to hear that he was a wizard, that he refused my company on a trip to Diagon Alley and that I, in turn, warned him against continued thievery when he arrived at the school. Well, the start of the school year arrived and with it came Tom Riddle, a quiet boy in his second hand robes, who lined up with the other first-years to be Sorted. He was placed in Slytherin house almost the moment the Sorting Hat touched his head” Dumbledore said, waving his blackened hand towards the shelf over his head where the Sorting Hat sat, ancient and unmoving. “How soon Riddle learned that the famous founder of the house could talk to snakes, I do not know - perhaps that very evening. The knowledge can only have excited him and increased his sense of self-importance. However, if he was frightening or impressing fellow Slytherins with displays of Parseltongue in their common room, no hint of it reached the staff. He showed no sign of outward arrogance or aggression at all. As an unusually talented orphan, he naturally drew attention and sympathy from the staff almost from the moment of his arrival. He seemed polite,quiet and thirsty for knowledge. Nearly all were all most favourably impressed by him.” Dumbledore continued.  
“Did you tell them, sir, what he had been like when you met him at the orphanage?” I asked.   
“No I did not. Though he had shown no hint of remorse, it was possible that he felt sorry for how he had behaved before and resolved to turn over a fresh leaf. I chose to give him a chance.” Dumbledore said, I could see a hit of regret in his eyes.   
Dumbledore paused and looked at me and Sevira inquiringly .  
“But you didn’t really trust him, sir, did you? He told me… the Riddle who came out of that diary said ‘Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did’” I said.   
“Let us say that I did not take it for granted that he was trustworthy.” Dumbledore said. “I had, as I have already indicated, resolved to keep a close eye upon him, and so I did. I cannot pretend that I gleaned a great deal of observations at first. He was very guarded with me; he felt, I am sure, that in the thrill of discovering his true identity he had told me a little too much. He was careful never to reveal as much again, but he could not take back what he had let slip in his excitement nor what Mrs Cole had confided in me. However, he had the sense never to try and charm me as he charmed so many of my colleagues.   
As he moved up the school, he gathered about him a group of dedicated friends; I call them that, far want of a better term, although as I have already indicated, Riddle undoubtedly felt no affection for any of them. -”  
“Is that because of his inability to love,sir?” Sevira asked, interrupting Dumbledore.   
“Ah, most possibly. Now I have not been able to find many memories of Riddle at Hogwarts.” Dumbledore said, placing his withered hand on the pensieve. “Few who knew him then are prepared to talk about him; they are too terrified. What I know, I found out after he left Hogwarts, after much painstaking effort, after searching old records and questioning Muggle and wizard witnesses alike. Those whom I could persuade to talk told me that Riddle was obsessed with his parentage. This is understandable, of course; he had grown up in an orphanage and naturally wished to know how he came to be there. It seems that he searched in vain for some trace of Tom Riddle Senior on the shields in the trophy room, on the lists of prefects in the old school records, even in the books of wizarding history. Finally he was forced to accept that his father had never set foot in Hogwarts. I believe that it was then he dropped the name forever, assumed the identity of Lord Voldemort, and began his investigations into his previously despised mother’s family- the woman whom, you will remember, he had thought could not be a witch if she had succumbed to the shameful human weakness of death.  
“All he had to go on was the single name ‘Marvolo’ which he knew from those who ran the orphanage had been his mother’s father’s name. Finally, after painstaking research through old books of wizarding families, he discovered the existence of Slytherin’s surviving line. In the summer of his sixteenth year, he left the orphanage to which he returned annually and set off to find his Gaunt relatives. And now Harry, Sevira, if you will both stand…”  
Dumbledore rose, and me and Sevira saw he was again holding a small crystal bottle filled with swirling, pearly memory.  
“I was very lucky to collect this,” Dumbledore said as he poured the contents into the Pensieve. “As you will understand when we have experienced it, Shall we?”  
We stepped up to the stone basin and bowed obediently until our faces sank through the surface of the memory; I felt the familiar sensation of falling through the nothingness and then landed upon a dirty stone floor into total darkness.   
It took me several seconds to recognise the place, by which time Dumbledore and Sevira had landed beside me. The Gaunts’ house was now more indescribably filthy than anywhere I had ever seen. The ceiling was thick with cobwebs, the floor was coated in grime; mouldy and rotting food lay upon the table amidst a mass of crusted pots. The only light came from a single guttering candle placed at the feet of a man with hair and beard so overgrown I could not see his eyes nor mouth. He was slumped in an armchair by the fire, and I started to wonder if he was dead, but then a knock was heard from the door and the bearded man jerked awake, raising a wand in his right hand, and a short knife in his left.   
The door creaked open. There on the threshold, holding an old fashioned lamp, stood a boy I recognised at once; tall, pale, dark-haired and handsome - the teenage Voldemort. Voldemort’s eyes moved slowly around the hovel and then found the man in the armchair. For a few seconds they looked at each other, then the man staggered upright, the many empty bottles at his feet clattering and tinkling across the floor.   
“YOU!” he bellowed. “YOU!!”  
And he hurtled drunkenly at Riddle, wand and knife held aloft.  
“Stop”  
Riddle spoke in Parseltongue. The man skidded into the table, sending mouldy pots crashing to the floor. He stared at Riddle. There was a long silence while they contemplated each other. The man broke it.   
“You speak it?”   
“Yes, I speak it,” said Riddle. He moved forwards into the room, allowing the door to swing shut behind him. I couldn't help but feel resentful admiration for Voldemort’s complete lack of fear.   
“Where is Marvolo?” he asked.  
“Dead,” said the other. “Dies years ago, didn’t he?”  
Riddle frowned.   
“Who are you, then?”  
“I am Morfin, ain’t I?”   
“Marvolo’s son?”   
“Course I am, then…”   
Morfin pushed the hair out of his dirty face, the better to see Riddle, and I saw that he wore Marvolo’s black stone ring on his right hand.   
“I thought you were that muggle,” whispered Morfin. “You look mighty like that Muggle”  
“What Muggle?” Riddle said sharply. I looked at Sevira who looked confused. The two men were still speaking in Parseltongue.   
“That Muggle what my sister took a fancy to, that Muggle what lives in the big house over the way.” said Morfin, and he spat unexpectedly upon the floor between them. “You look right like him, Riddle. But he is older now, i’n’e? He’s older’n you now I think of it…”   
Morfin looked slightly dazed and swayed a little, still clutching the edge of the table for support.   
“He came back, see?” he added stupidly.   
Voldemort was gazing at Morfin, as though appraising his possibilities. Now he moved a little closer and said, “Riddle came back?”  
“Ar, he left her, and served her right, marrying filth!” said Morfin., spitting on the floor again. “Robbed us, mind, before she ran off? Where is the locket eh? Where is Slytherin’s locket!”   
Voldemort didn’t answer. Morfin was working himself into a rage again: he brandished his knife and shouted, “Dishonoured us, she did, that little slut! And who are you, coming here and asking questions about all that? It’s over, innit…. It’s over…”  
He looked away, staggering slightly, and Voldemort moved forwards. As he did so, an unnatural darkness fell, extinguishing everything…   
Dumbledore’s fingers closed tightly around Sevira’s and mine’s arm and we were soaring back into the present again. The soft golden light in Dumbledore’s office seemed to dazzle my eyes after the impenetrable darkness. Sevira sighed in relief beside me. She has always hated doing that. I patted her shoulder.   
“Is that all?” I asked at once, “Why did it go dark, what happened?”  
“Because Morfin could not remember anything from that point onwards,” Dumbledore said, gesturing to me and Sevira to our seats. “When he awoke next morning, he was lying on the floor, quite alone. Marvolo’s ring had gone Meanwhile, in the village of Little Hangleton, a maid was running along high street, screaming that there were three bodies lying in the drawing room of the big house: Tom Riddle Senior and his mother and his father. The Muggle authorities were perplexed. As far as I am aware, they do not know to this day how the Riddles died, for the Avada Kedavra Curse does not usually leave any sign of damage…. The exception sits before me” Dumbledore added with a nod to my scar. “The Ministry, on the other hand, knew at once that this was a wizard’s murder. They also knew that a convicted Muggle-hater lived across the valley from the Riddle house, a Muggle-hater who had already been imprisoned for harming one of the victims before. But, long story short Morfin lived the remainder of his life in Azkaban, lamenting the loss of Marvolo’s last heirloom, and is buried beside the prison alongside the other poor souls who have expired within the walls. Before you ask, Voldemort did steal Morfin’s wand. Voldemort Stupefied his uncle, took his wand and proceeded across the valley to the big house over the way. There he murdered the Muggle man who had abandoned his witch mother, and, for good measure, his Muggle grandparents, thus obliterating the last of the unworthy Riddle line and avenging his father who had abandoned him. Now, we must move on. I am going to show you two an important memory.” Dumbledore said pouring a new vial into the Pensieve.   
We fell again through the silver surface, landing this time landing in front of a man I recognised instantly.   
It was a much more younger Slughorn. I was so used to him bald that I found the sight of Slughorn with thick, shiny, straw-coloured hair quite disconcerting; it looked as though he had his head thatched, though there was already a shiny Galleon-sized bald patch on his crown. His moustache, less massive than it was these days, was gingerly-blond. He was no quie round as the Slughorn I knew, though the golden buttons on his richly embroidered waistcoat were taking a fair amount of strain. His little feet resting upon a velvet pouffe, he was sitting well back in a comfortable winged armchair, one hand grasping a small glass of wine, the other searching through a box of crystallised pineapple.   
I looked around as Dumbledore and Sevira appeared beside me, Sevira clung onto Dumbledore’s arm tightly as she landed. Half a dozen boys and one girl were sitting around Slughorn, all on harder or lower seats than him and all in their mid-teens. I recognised Riddle at once. His was the most handsome face and he looked the most relaxed of all the students there. His right hand lay negligently upon the arm of his chair, with a jolt, I saw that he was wearing Marvolo’s ring; he had already killed his father.   
“Sir, is it true Professor Merrythought is retiring?” Riddle asked.   
“Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn’t tell you,” said Slughorn, wagging a reproving finger at Riddle, though ruining the effect by a wink. “I must say, I would like to know where you get your information, boy; more knowledgeable that half the staff, you are”  
“That is stretching a bit far.” a girl said, scoffing. She had long black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin. I looked at Sevira.   
“She is my auntie Eileen.” she stated.   
“What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn’t and your careful flattery of the people who matter - thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you are quite right, it is my favourite-”  
As several of the boys tittered, something very odd happened. The whole room was suddenly filled with a thick white fog, so that I could not see anything but the faces of Dumbledore and Sevira who were standing beside me. Then Slughorn’s voice rang out through the mist rather loudly: “- You will go wrong, boy, mark my words.”  
The fog cleared as suddenly as it appeared and yet no one in the room made no notice of it. I looked around to see a small golden clock standing upon Slughorn’s desk chimed eleven o’clock.   
“Good gracious is that the time? You better get going, or we will all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow or it is detention, same goes for you Eileen.” Slughorn warned.   
Slughorn pulled himself out of his armchair and carried his empty glass over to his desk as the boys filed out. Riddle, however, stayed behind. I could tell he had dawdled deliberately, wanting to be last in the room with Slughorn.   
“I was wondering if you knew anything about Horcruxes, sir?” Riddle asked whilst he turned around to face a surprised looking Slughorn.   
The same thing happened as before, the thick fog appeared again and we heard Slughorn say: “I don’t know anything about horcruxes and I wouldn’t tell you even if I did! Now get out of here at once and Don’t let me catch you mentioning them again!”  
“Well, that’s that” said Dumbledore placidly beside me.   
And my feet left the floor to fall, seconds later to the rug in front of Dumbledore’s desk.  
“No..” Sevira groaned as she vomited on the concrete floor. I couldn’t help but laugh. I grabbed her hair and held it up, away from her face. She waved her wand to clean it up. “Sorry, sir,” she said sheepishly.   
Dumbledore just laughed.   
“It’s fine, it happens to the best of us.”   
“That is all there is?” I asked referring to the memory we have just seen.   
Dumbledore had said previously that these memories were the most important memories of all, but I could not see what was so significant about them. Admittedly the fog, and the fact that nobody seemed to have noticed it, was odd, but other than that nothing seemed to have happened except that Riddle asked a question but could not get an answer.   
“As you might have noticed,” said Dumbledore, reseating himself behind his desk, “that memory has been tampered with”  
“Tampered with?” repeated Sevira, we sat back down as well.   
“Certainly, Professor Slughorn has meddled with his recollections.” Dumbledore said.   
“But, why would he do that?” I asked.   
“Because, I think, he is ashamed of what he remembers.” said Dumbledore. “He has tried to rework the memory to show himself in a better light, obliterating those parts which he does not wish me to see. It is as you will have noticed, very crudely done, and that is all to the good, for it shows that the true memory is still there beneath the alterations. And so , for the first time, I am giving you two homework, Sevira, Harry. It will be your guys job to persuade Professor Slughorn to divulge the real memory, which will undoubtedly be our most crucial piece of information of all.”  
I stared at him unable to say anything.   
“But surely, sir. You don’t need me - you could use Legilimency or Veritaserum” I suggested, trying to sound respectful as possible.  
“Professor Slughorn is a very able wizard who will be expecting both.” Dumbledore said, “Now, it is getting late. Off to bed you two and remember that ‘Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.’”   
Me and Sevira left after that in silence. I was trying to digest everything we had both learned tonight and trying to figure out how we are supposed to get the real memory from Slughorn.   
We reached the portrait hole to an empty common room. I glanced at the time. 10pm. We hadn’t even had dinner. Sevira sat in one of the armchairs and slumped. I did the same. As I sat down a silver platter of sandwiches appeared with a note that said ‘I know you are hungry so eat up. From Minerva Mcgonagall’ I smiled and took one. Sevira took one as well.   
“So, how should we get this memory off of Slughorn then?” I asked. Sevira finished eating.   
“I am not sure. Maybe if I use Legilimency on him when he is distracted? No that won’t work” She began talking to herself and I just watched. The way she plays with her fingers when she is thinking about things or the way she bites her lip when she is daydreaming. Those two freckles that sat upon her cheek. I couldn’t help but think how gorgeous they are.   
“My freckles aren’t gorgeous,” Sevira said, sighing.   
“Stop reading my mind!” I said in frustration.   
“I will when you learn how to block me.” she said. “Goodnight Harry, See you tomorrow.”   
She walked up the stone stairs leaving me alone in the common room. I sat there for a few moments before standing up and walking slowly into the boys dormitory.   
The next day wasn’t eventful. Ron and Hermione still were not talking to each other and I could see the frustration it caused Sevira. Me and Sevira decided to spend lunch together by the Black lake. We sat there in a comfortable silence. Sevira was doing her potions homework and I was determined to not to do it as I knew I would pass the class anyway.   
“It is nice out here.” I commented in general, as I lay on my back. Sevira sighed and placed her school work beside her and lay back as well. The sky above was blue with white clouds.   
“When do you think Hermione and Ron will make up?” she asked quietly.   
“Never it seems but I do hope soon.” I replied, sadly. She just sighed in response.   
“What if we just ask Slughorn about it? Maybe he has changed his mind?” I suggested.   
“I suppose it is the only option right now.” she said, sighing again.


	8. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzeLT2iSfPXgcPyQBh-hjPAMecA9rLe4b

We seemed to spend the majority of our free time off lying under the tree across the Black Lake. The same tree, my father bullied Snape in their 5th year. The few days since the lesson with Dumbledore have gone in a flash. Hermione and Ron are nowhere near forgiveness which seemed to push Sevira away. She seemed to hate the tension. Understandable.   
“Do you think that Slughorn would be happy to give us the true memory?” I asked, staring up to the sky.   
“No, I doubt it.” Sevira replied. She was sitting against the tree reading ‘Jane Eyre’.   
“Are you enjoying your book?” I asked.   
“It is okay, it isn’t the best book I have read.” she said, looking over her book. Her birthday wasn’t celebrated. She didn’t want to be reminded that it was her birthday. I did not question it.   
“Maybe, find another book.” I suggested, sitting up against the tree. Sevira grunted in response. I sighed and looked across the lake. I could see Hermione with Neville on the other side. I sighed. I wished that we could all hang out but without Ron it felt incomplete. And Sevira seems to struggle with the tension. I closed my eyes and listened to the moving branches that were moving with the wind and the twittering of the birds.   
“Hermione is coming.” Sevira whispered after a few minutes. I opened my eyes to see Hermione walk towards us.   
“Hey, Hermione. How are you?” I asked, smiling at her. She sighed and sat beside me.   
“I am fine. What are you guys doing here? You aren’t hiding from me are you?” Hermione asked.   
“No-” I said.   
“Yes-” Sevira said at the same time. Hermione gasped slightly but sighed.   
“Understandable.” she replied. I sighed in relief. “But, can I ask why you are?”   
“I don’t like how tense it is. It is nothing about you Hermione.” she said, closing her book.   
Hermione looked at me and I nodded and I felt like me and she had some understanding. It was tense in her home so she obviously did not want to feel tense at school as well.   
“I am sorry Sevira.” Hermione said, understanding the reason why Sevira doesn’t like it. Sevira waved it off and smiled.  
“Did you finish the Defence Against the Dark Arts homework on Inferius?” Hermione asked. Sevira rummaged through her bag and pulled out 4 pieces of parchment.   
“Yes I did.” Sevira said.   
“Can you help me?” Hermione asked. I looked at her in shock. Hermione needing help was unheard of. Sevira smiled.   
“Yeah,” Sevira replied happily. Hermione moved closer to her. “So the Inferi is a dead body, reanimated by a dark wizard’s spell. They are similar but are distinct to a zombie. Inferi are created through the magical branch of Dark Arts called necromancy -”  
“Like the Necromancer in the Lord of the Rings trilogy?” Hermione asked. I was still perplexed why Hermione was struggling with the homework.   
“I don’t know what you mean but I guess they are similar.” Sevira said. “Why are you struggling with this?”   
“My mind has been elsewhere I guess.” Hermione said quietly.   
“I am sure you and Ron will reconcile soon anyway. Have you got the early history of the Inferi?” Sevira asked. Hermione nodded. I closed my eyes.   
The evening meal in the Great Hall went smoothly. Ron stayed with Lavender at the other end of the table and Hermione, Sevira and myself sat at the other end. Sevira was playing with her food with her fork and Hermione was looking at her with a slight concern. We both noticed that Sevira wasn’t eating much for the past week but we never thought of questioning it.  
“Are you alright Sevira?” Hermione asked, placing her fork on her empty plate. Sevira looked up.   
“Yeah, just not hungry tonight.” she said with a smile. I just sighed and looked toward Ron who looked fed up with Lavender not letting him go. I looked at Hermione and smiled as I stood up and made my way towards them. I stood in front of them and coughed to get Ron’s attention. Ron looked up.   
“Can I talk to you Ron?” I asked, looking at both of them. Lavender rolled her eyes and went to find her other friends. I sat in front of him. “Apologise to Hermione.” I said bluntly.   
“Why should I apologise? What have I done?” Ron asked, scoffing.  
“Nothing but this is affecting everyone. If you would just say sorry.” I pleaded. Ron rolled his eyes.   
“Okay but if she doesn’t accept, drop it.” Ron said as Lavender came skipping back which meant I had to leave. I walked back down the table and sat beside Sevira who was rolling her eyes.   
“Maybe, if you eat some potatoes.” Hermione suggested.   
“No, Hermione.” Sevira said, pushing her plate away. Hermione huffed.   
“Ron, is going to apologise for his actions. So please accept it.” I said to Hermione.   
“No, if he wants to apologise. He should do so on his own accord. Not by you telling him to.” Hermione said. Sevira rubbed her face in frustration and I rolled my eyes.   
The week flew by. I was passing potions and somehow managing to get by in Defence Against the dark arts class. If only by the skin of my teeth. Sevira was obviously passing all her classes by flying colours. She seemed to always get full marks in every class even in Herbology where she admitted to be her worst class. Hermione on the other hand still was passing all her classes but was behind. Much to her annoyance. Ron did apologise but Hermione didn’t forgive him which led Ron to be moody at Quidditch practices and in the common room. Occlumency lessons seem to be going well according to Sevira. She says that I am improving even if it is slowly. We have not had a chance to get Slughorn alone. He seemed aloof most days. I suspect he knew something was coming.   
Thursday evening and me and Sevira were sitting in the armchairs in the Common room alone. Hermione had to go to the library and Ron was probably snogging Lavender somewhere in the castle.   
“Can you pass me my bag?” Sevira asked. She left her bag on my side. I picked up the bag and dropped it accidentally. Books fell out. I bent down to pick them up. As I picked it up I saw a golden necklace.  
“Leave it!” Sevira said. I didn’t listen, I picked it up to be a time turner.  
“Why do you need a time turner?” I asked, holding it up into the air.   
“Just in case.” She replied, grabbing it off me.   
“Who gave you it?” I asked, passing her bag to her. Sevira sighed and didn’t reply but just opened one of her many books.   
“Who gave you it?” I repeated.  
“It doesn’t matter.” she replied bluntly. I just sat back in my armchair and stared into the fire. Why would she need a time turner? I have never seen her use it? Well I suppose I never saw Hermione use it in our 3rd year at Hogwarts. I excused myself and walked into my dormitory. I got into bed still thinking about reasons why she has it and who gave her it. Maybe Dumbledore gave her it? Maybe I could see if used a counter spell when she was giving me Occlumency lessons? No, that would be wrong. I would be just repeating what I did to Snape. I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Could I?  
“You haven’t been practising,” Sevira said as I fell back on my chair. We were in an abandoned classroom doing our Occlumency lesson.  
“I have stuff on my mind.” I said, sighing.   
“I know I saw.” she said sternly. I just groaned.   
“Again” she said pointing her wand at me. “Legilimens!”   
The room around me moved and I was suddenly in the dormitory talking to Ron about Sevira. I tried to push her out but it was too late. She saw well heard the full extent of my feelings. I cursed myself. I was suddenly back in the abandoned classroom but was on the floor.   
“You are not improving!” She said bluntly.   
“I am trying!” I said, standing up and facing her.   
“You are not!” she exclaimed. I rubbed my eyes in frustration. Sevira pointed her wand back at me.   
“Legilimens!”   
“Protego” I yelled.  
The room swirled and I was suddenly in the Hogwarts infirmary. I couldn’t see as it was extremely blurry but I couldn’t see Sevira anywhere. I looked down to see Professor Snape lying in one of the infirmary beds. He looked different. He had longer hair.   
“Do you think he will survive this Poppy?” McGonagall said in worry. Their voices sounded like they were under water but I could still hear.   
“Yes but he won’t be the same man he was.” Pomfrey said.   
“What do you mean?” McGonagall asked.   
“Potter gave him the incorrect potions. When Severus was dying from the snake bite, Harry gave him a deaging potion and -”   
Before I knew it I was back in the abandoned classroom. I looked at Sevira who looked like she was about to kill me.   
“What was that!?” I asked. I could not see Sevira anywhere in that memory. Before I could stand out I was pulled by my shirt collar.  
“How fucking dare you!” Sevira seethed. She held my collar tightly.   
“I am sorry!” I said quickly.   
“Get the fuck out. I will talk with Dumbledore and get him to get you another teacher.” she said, letting me go. I ran out the room leaving her behind. I was hit with deja vu. This sort of thing happened last year with Professor Snape. When was Professor Snape bitten by a snake? I walked quickly up to the common room to find Hermione.   
Hermione was fortunately sitting alone in one of the armchairs doing her homework. She looked up and saw me and smiled. I told her everything that had happened.   
“Odd.” she said. She looked like she was in deep thought, “She has a time turner? They have all been destroyed”   
At that point, Sevira came through the portrait hole. She glared at me and walked towards the other end of the room and sat down and opened her book.   
“Maybe, she is from the future.” Hermione whispered.   
“Are you serious?” I asked.   
“Of course not. It is more likely that Professor Mcgonagall gave her it. You just never know. I recommend that you move on” Hermione said. I just sighed.   
Days turned into two weeks and turned into a month. I never heard anything back from Dumbledore apart from a note saying that Occlumency will commence with Professor O’brien next week and that Dumbledore was immensely disappointed in me. Classes ended for the long February weekend and me and Hermione sat in the Library researching an antidote for Dumbledore’s hand.   
“Hermione… At Dumbledore’s recent lesson. I saw the gaunt ring that now Dumbledore owns. What if that ring was what cursed Dumbledore’s hand.” I suggested quietly as Madam Pince was walking close to them.   
“Horcrux?” Hermione asked, glancing at me from her book.   
“Yes.” I said and Hermione stood up and collected a book from the restricted section. She was allowed in there due to her being a prefect. She placed the book down in front of me. ‘The Creation of the Horcrux by Kirsty Fathom.’ I opened it as quietly as I could. 

‘A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul...You split your soul and hide it in an object of close possession. Then if one’s body is attacked or destroyed,one cannot die. For part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged…. Some Horcruxes can be enchanted by the creator to have other forms of defences to prevent destruction. For some Horcruxes contain curses that could kill anyone who touched it… ways of preventing immediate death if touched by a cursed Horcrux, the use of the potion of extended life would only give the victim temporary life more likely until the end of the year… Unfortunately there is not any cure. Not yet.’ 

I closed the book with a slam in annoyance which led to Madam Pince telling me to be quiet. Hermione looked at me in confusion.   
“It says that the curse that Dumbledore more likely has cannot be cured and if he took the potion of extended life it will only allow him to live until the end of the year.” I said.   
“Snape talked about that last year and said he was the only one in Britain that can brew it correctly.” Hermione said, standing to put the book back.   
We left shortly after and walked up to the common room in silence. The corridors were quiet. We turned a corner to only hit into the person I do not want to talk to. Professor Snape.  
“Sorry, sir” Hermione said quickly. Snape looked at her and turned to me.   
“Nothing… to .... worry ….about.” He drawled. I looked at him in confusion. Did he brew the potion for Dumbledore meaning that he was good or was it just a game?  
“Sir, what do you know about the Potion of extended life?” I asked. Snape looked at me in slight confusion.   
“May I ask why you are asking Potter?” Snape asked. Hermione looked anxious.   
“I just read something about it in the library.” I said, quickly.   
“What book?”  
“The Creation of the Horcrux.” I replied honestly. I didn’t feel the need to lie.   
“Interesting. Well if you must know, the potion extends a person's life temporarily. They will eventually die in the end.” Snape said.   
“Is there no cure for it?” I asked.   
“For what?” Snape asked, giving me and Hermione a slight perplexed look.   
“Uhh, Dumbledore’s cursed hand.” I replied.   
“I don’t think that is any of your business, Potter.” Snape said, folding his arms.   
“Well, Hermione did say that you said last year that you were the only one in Britain that could brew it and if Dumbledore touched that ring, he would have died by now.” I observed.   
“Did she now? You would be correct. Great observations, Potter.” Snape complimented. “Yes, I did give the Headmaster that potion. Come with me, Granger, go to your common room.” Snape said and Hermione nodded and left quickly. Snape led me to his office and sat down at his desk. I sat in front of him. I felt uncomfortable to be alone with him as last time it did not end well.   
“Tell me, what happened to Sevira?” Snape asked, clasping his hands together.   
“Uhh, we just had a disagreement.” I lied. Snape scoffed.   
“I am sure it is more than that but tell me why you seem to have it in for Malfoy?”   
“I don’t know what you mean, sir?” I acted confused.   
“Don’t play games, Potter. You seem to have blamed Malfoy for the necklace incident. “Why?” Snape asked.   
“Well, I saw him at hog’s head with the exact same package that Sevira was going to bring to Dumbledore, sir” I said, honestly. Snape’s face quivered slightly.   
“How good have you got at Occlumency.?”   
“Well, I have slightly improved since last year.” I said.   
“Okay, I am going to tell you something that Dumbledore would be angry if he knew so please try to block your mind in his presence. Yes?” Snape said. I sat and stared at him. I was confused.   
“Okay I won’t, sir” I said slowly. Snape looked conflicted.  
“Right… I have been asked to kill Dumbledore at the end of the year” Snape said as quickly as he possibly could. He looked relieved to have told me.   
“What? Why?” I said in shock. I felt glued to my seat.   
“As you know, I am part of the order.” I nodded. “But I am also part of the death eaters. I work as a double agent for the light.”   
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked. I didn’t know how to feel.   
“I believe that you have the right to know the truth. Dumbledore does not believe it wise to tell you but I think that you deserve to know.” He said. I just stared at him.  
“Do you hate me, Sir?” I asked. I knew it was a silly question and by Snape’s face it was.   
“No, I don’t. I don’t like you but I don't hate you.” he replied, truthfully. I sat there for a moment.   
“Okay… I believe you, sir. I don’t believe you would lie to me but why are you a double agent?” I asked.   
“That is something I wish to keep private.”   
“Is Sevira your actual cousin?” I asked.   
“Why are you asking?” He asked with a slight confused expression.   
“I saw her memory but she wasn’t in it. It -” I suddenly went quiet as I felt it wasn’t right to say.   
“Tell me, Potter,” Snape said with annoyance. For the first time I noticed how tired he looks. The dark bags under his eyes proved that he doesn’t sleep well.   
“Well, I saw Sevira’s memory, she wasn’t there but you were. You were lying in a hospital bed. Professor McGonagall said that I gave you two incorrect potions… one was uh a deaging potion. I didn’t hear the other one. But Sevira wasn’t there.” I said anxiously. Snape was quiet, he just stared at me.   
“Why did you give me two wrong potions?” He asked in confusion.   
“I don’t know, I guess I haven’t done that yet…” I said in confusion.   
“This is odd.” Snape replied.   
“Sir, she has a time turner in her bag but it looks different. It was gold but it has two on the same necklace.” I said, honestly.   
“You think she is from the future. Would make sense considering I never met her before.” He said, thinking. We sat in silence for a while. It wasn’t awkward. It was comfortable. So Snape was a double agent. I couldn’t get my mind around it.   
“I have a theory. What if Sevira is you? In the memory, McGonagall mentions that I gave you a deaging potion but what if the other potion was a gender swap potion thing?” I theorized.   
“The Potion of the Fates…” Snape said, quickly getting up and going to the cupboard which held the books. Snape pulled out a small vial. It was a small purple bottle. Snape walked towards me and sat down. He held up the bottle in the air. “This potion is a potion that would change someone, it could be a gender switch or a change of path, it depends on what fate is destined for that person. If you are correct, the fate that is destined for me is to disguise myself to help you as much as possible. It would make sense considering how far along she is with her classes.”   
“I don’t know though. She shared all this stuff with me but I don’t know if that was a lie.” I said sadly. I didn’t know why I was talking to him about everything, maybe it was because I knew I could trust him.   
“What did she say?” Snape asked.   
“I don’t know if I should say just in case this theory is incorrect.” I said.   
“How will you know that this theory is correct?” Snape asked.  
“I suppose… She said that she was abused by her father whilst her mother watched, She wasn’t allowed to wash or eat until she finished her schoolwork. She didn’t have a proper bed to sleep on.” I said, trying to remember everything she said.  
“Then your theory would be correct it seems.” Snape said, his voice didn’t show any emotion. I stared at him in shock.   
“I am so sorry that happened to you, sir” I said, smiling sadly. Snape rolled his eyes.   
“Don’t apologise. I would appreciate it if we keep this theory to ourselves for now.”   
“Do you think she remembers you?” I asked.   
“Probably but I wouldn’t be surprised if she wants to forget. What surprises me is that the future me defends you from her past self.” he said. I laughed slightly. Which to my surprise, Snape laughed as well. I suddenly felt uncomfortable with the fact that I have a crush on the future version of my old Potions professor. “Now, It is dinner. You may walk with me to the Great Hall if you wish.”   
We walked in silence to the Great Hall. My mind was racing. Probably the fact that Sevira was my old potions professor. Kind of creeped me out. She seemed more emotional than Snape. I didn’t know how to feel.  
We both entered the Great Hall and Snape walked to the head table and I sat beside Hermione who was unfortunately sitting across from Sevira. I wish I could tell Hermione about Snape but I shouldn’t break his trust.   
“How was Snape?” Hermione asked as I placed some potatoes onto my plate.   
“Ah, fine. Just gave me another detention.” I lied. Hermione rolled her eyes.   
“So, what did you get up to when I was stuck with him?” I asked.   
“I just read with Sevira.” Hermione said. I looked at Sevira who looked at me but looked down. Would she remember the conversation that me and Snape had earlier now?   
“What did you guys read?” I asked.   
“I read The Hobbit and Sevira read The Lord of the Rings.” Hermione said smiling. I smiled in return.   
I sat alone in one of the armchairs in the common room. I stared into the blazing fire. I couldn’t sleep and was getting annoyed at Ron’s constant snoring. How could Sevira be Snape? Why was Snape a double agent? And Why do I still have feelings for her? I couldn’t understand. I just looked at the orange and yellow flame move, it looked like some sort of dance. It was beautiful. I never paid attention to it before.   
“What are you doing down here? It is 1am.” Someone said from behind me. I turned to see Sevira standing there. She was wearing tartan pyjamas and her hair was in a lopsided bun. She didn’t look like Snape.   
“Just couldn’t sleep. Why are you up?” I asked her. My voice sounds higher. She looked confused.   
“Same.” she said moving to sit on the armchair across from me. I wanted to ask her. “No, I am not Professor Snape.”  
“What?” I said blatantly.   
“I am not stupid you know. I overheard you and his conversation. I won’t apologise for it. I will say this. I am not Snape anymore.” she said reluctantly. She slumped slightly.   
“So you were him?” I asked.  
“Yes well from what I remember.” she said.   
“What do you mean?” I asked and she just rubbed her eyes.   
“When I woke up in the infirmary in 1998, I wasn’t Snape. I was me. Well the person you see now. McGonagall thought it best to remove some memories such as teaching you, I remember some but not all. I knew who you were of course but she wanted me to start this year normal but memory spells can be temporary.” she admitted. I just breathed in sharply.   
“So, how do you remember what McGonagall did?” I asked.   
“She left a note. Idiot if I do say so. But she did.”   
“What do you remember of my time at Hogwarts?” I asked.   
“Nothing much, just when you were entered into the Goblet of Fire. Look, I may be Snape to you but he is dead. I am not him in my head.” she said in frustration.   
“I know you aren’t. I don’t think Snape would cry on my shoulder.” I said jokingly. She just smiled.   
“I guess not.” She whispered. I just sighed feeling relieved. All my questions had been answered.   
“I can’t believe my ex potions master from the future gave me a firebolt 2001 to beat the Slytherins.” I joked.   
“Oh, Shut up” she replied.   
“Wait… in my third year. Hermione said that you can’t see your past self. Why can you?” I asked.   
“I believe it is because it is a different time turner but I am not sure.” She replied, shrugging before heading back up the stone steps.


	9. The Ocean Away.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzeLT2iSfPXgcPyQBh-hjPAMecA9rLe4b  
> Recommended Song: Ocean away by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear!

The next day felt different. I woke up on the armchair feeling relieved and happy. I felt that because I have got this recent information, I felt somewhat superior. The only downside is that I cannot tell Hermione or Ron. I felt that Sevira who was beginning to talk to me more now was the only person I could talk to. I seemed to find it easy to see Sevira as her own person and not Snape. I did realise that Sevira is very similar to him but she wasn’t at the same time. Snape was dead in her mind and heart. And I believed that and hoped it wasn’t temporary.   
Three of us walked to Defense Against the Dark Arts. We stood outside in silence. It was better that we didn’t talk or I would end up telling the truth. The classroom door swung open and Professor Lupin came walking out.   
“Professor Lupin? Where is Professor Snape?” Hermione asked. Lupin just sighed.   
“Never mind now all of you in. We have a very important lesson for today.” Lupin instructed. The class walked in to see tables that had books lying on top of them. We all sat down. Sevira sat next to me looking slightly confused.   
“Now, Professor Snape has unfortunately fallen ill. Something about the stomach flu but he has asked me specially to take this class today. Today, we will be learning about Horcruxes. Dumbledore has given permission for me to teach you this.” Lupin said. I swallowed a lump in my throat. Horcruxes? I never seem to be able to get away from that word.   
“Can anyone tell me what a Horcrux is?” Lupin asked, looking around the class. Hermione’s hand shot up into the air.  
“A Horcrux is an object that a person can split their soul onto. Meaning that they cannot die” Hermione answered. Lupin smiled.   
“Good. Now, this will not be a practical lesson. I want you to write 2 pieces of parchment on Horcruxes and have it finished by the end of the class. Begin.” Lupin said. Everyone groaned and got their supplies out of their bags. “The book will help you” Lupin sat down at the desk. I looked at him and at the book. I knew everything about Horcruxes so I didn’t feel the need to open my book. Sevira did.   
I finished my work in 30 minutes. I put my hand in the air and Lupin came walking up to me and took the parchment off my table.   
“Well, that is good Harry, 10 points for Gryffindor.You can help Miss Prince.” Lupin said with a smile and walked off.   
“Are you needing help?” I whispered to Sevira. She looked at me.  
“No.” She said bluntly. I just sighed and faced forward. Lupin was looking at us both in worry.   
The bell rang 40 minutes later and we all left the classroom to head to Herbology. I walked beside Hermione. Sevira was walking alone in front of me. Snape came walking round the corner. As he walked past us, he looked at Sevira as if he was inspecting her. Causing her to stop in her tracks before continuing quicker down the hall. He looked ill. Paler than usual.  
Herbology flew by and was the last of classes for today. Me and Hermione walked back to the common room. We entered the portrait hole and made our way to the two armchairs. One was occupied. Sevira was sitting there reading. She looked up and closed her book and left the common room like she was hiding from someone. Me and Hermione looked at each other in confusion and sat down.   
“I don’t understand, she was talking to me last night and she was fine this morning.” I said in confusion. Hermione sighed.   
“She wasn’t fine this morning Harry.” Hermione said.   
“What do you mean?” I asked.   
“I woke up to see her crying. Did you not see how red her eyes were this morning?” Hermione asked, matter of factly.   
“Why?” I asked, looking around to see if anyone was in earshot. No one was.   
“I don’t know, Harry. But it isn’t our business.” Hermione said, pulling her Herbology homework out of her bag. “So, what is happening with Slughorn? Have you got his real memory yet?”   
“No, I haven’t even asked him yet.” I said.   
“You better get on with it. The end of the year is fast approaching…” Hermione said slowly. I started to panic. Have I failed Dumbledore?   
“I know.” I whispered. I was more worried about Sevira than Slughorn. But Dumbledore gave us a task to do and I will complete it. I am not failing him.   
The next day wasn't any better. Sevira avoided me like I had the Black Plague and I couldn’t seem to talk to her even when we were sitting beside each other in classes. After every class she stayed behind to talk to the teachers including Professor Snape. Slughorn seemed to be in good spirits but he did give me looks of concern. The bell rang and I stayed behind. Sevira did as well.   
“Harry! What could I do for you today!” Slughorn boomed.   
“Nothing much sir. I was wondering, I was in the restricted section and found a book. It was about Horcruxes-” Slughorn went pale. “Do you know anything about Horcruxes, sir?” I asked. Slughorn suddenly went red.   
“Get out. If this is Dumbledore’s way of getting that memory again then the answer is no. Tell him no!” Slughorn said in a rage. I headed towards the door in defeat.   
“I was wondering if I could move tables for next class.” Sevira said from behind me.   
“Why?” Slughorn asked, the anger in his voice was fading away.  
“Personal reasons, sir” Sevira said. I turned the door handle and walked out in frustration. What reasons would make her want to move seats? Because of me? I thought we were okay? I guess not.   
The Great Hall was loud and busy. I looked around to see if Sevira had arrived. I wasn’t caring about the food. Hermione sighed.  
“So, what happened with Slughorn?” Hermione asked, breaking the silence.   
“He told me to go away. Have you seen Sevira?” I asked, changing the subject.   
“No, Harry. I have not. Maybe she feels uncomfortable around you since your fallout.” Hermione suggested.   
“But, we had a talk last night.” I said.   
“Just because she talked to you, doesn’t mean she is ready to forgive you.” Hermione said. “What you did was unacceptable.”   
“At least, I am willing to forgive.” I said.  
“The thing with Ron is different. But with you, you don’t have the right to forgive her. What you did is on you not her, Harry.” Hermione said in frustration. I just sighed.   
“I know, you are right.” I said, picking up my fork. “So, how are you?”  
“I am fine, Harry. Worried about you and Sevira.” Hermione said, sadly. I just smiled sadly. “You aren’t yourself, Harry. You need to find her and talk to her.”   
“I can’t, she isn’t wanting to talk to me and I cannot force her.” I said.   
“You will have to. Go now before curfew.” Hermione said, pointing towards the door. I walked out of the Great Hall and stood there trying to think about where she was. I walked up to the Gryffindor common room. Not there. I stood in the middle of the common room, trying to think where she would be. The abandoned classroom? I walked out quickly. I could hear the Gryffindor students including Neville questioning what I was doing. I just rolled my eyes as I left the Portrait hole. I walked to the abandoned classroom. Not there apart from Professor Snape. I stood in the doorway and watched him stand there. He was mumbling to himself.   
“Hello, Mr Potter.” He said, not facing me. I just stood there before wiping my sweaty hands on my cloak.   
“Hello, sir. Have you seen Sevira? I can’t find her.” I said. Snape turned around and looked concerned.   
“I saw her, walking outside. Why do you need to find her? It seems she is trying to avoid you.” Snape said.   
“She isn’t eating or anything. I am just worried for her.” I admitted, huffing a little. Snape raised an eyebrow.  
“You worry for her even though she is my future me?” Snape said with fascination.   
“Yes….” I said slowly. I guess he was right.   
“Fascinating. I would check outside. I always went to the Black lake when I was worried” Snape said and I walked out quickly. I almost ran outside. The cold air hit my face and I flinched slightly. I looked around as I walked down to the Black lake. As I approached the Lake I saw a silhouette of someone sitting on the grass. I walked closer to see it was Sevira. As I got closer, I could hear sniffles. I sat down quietly beside her. I looked at her and saw tears running down her cheeks. I just sat there in silence and looked towards the lake that was glistening from the moon. Sevira wiped her tears away but didn’t look at me. What could I say? I didn’t know how I could apologise.   
“I am sorry, Sevira. For everything.” I said, quietly. She still didn’t look at me or answer. I just sat there, looking at the lake feeling sorry for myself. I felt awful. “I understand if you don’t forgive me. What I did was unacceptable.”   
“It isn’t you. I have already forgiven you.” she said.   
“What is it then? I am here to help.” I said, sighing in relief.   
“I remember.” She said bluntly.   
“Remember what?” I asked.   
“Everything.” she said, sadly. New tears left her eyes and fell down her cheek. I just sighed and looked at her. “I remember being your professor. I remember everything about it. I can’t even look at you without feeling ashamed of myself.”   
“I don’t understand. Why are you ashamed of yourself?” I asked.   
“It doesn’t matter, Pott-Harry.” She said, clenching her eyes shut when she made a mistake.   
“You know, that I don’t hate you. You are still my friend forever and always. I don’t know how I would deal without you here.” I admitted, looking back towards the lake.   
“And I am your friend, forever and always.” She repeated. I stood up and offered her my hand.   
“Whenever I am sad or remembering something I don’t wish to remember. Hermione dances with me. So stand up and dance with me.” I said. She took my hand reluctantly. I held her close and moved around the wet grass. She just looked at me in confusion before relaxing and putting her head on my chest. When she is in my focus, she won’t even notice my gaze. How can she be okay? She doesn’t realise how much I love her. But having her close was the closest thing I will probably get to her and I didn’t mind as long as she was my friend. She sighed as we slowly danced rather badly around the lake. I didn’t mind if other students saw us. It felt like it was just us and the sky above. She was the only thing I could think about. She was the only person in this world who I felt understood me. I didn’t care about her past. All I care about is her future. And that she is safe and happy. I spun her around and she chuckled. She looked at me with a smile. I looked into her black eyes. You could see everything in those eyes. They were beautiful and so was she. I want to know what she is thinking about. She placed her head on my chest again and sighed. She feels like an ocean away even though she is here with me. The sky was clear and full of bright, shining stars. It was truly beautiful. I looked up and so did Sevira.   
“It is beautiful isn’t it.” Sevira said quietly. I smiled gently.   
“You are.” I said quickly before thinking. Sevira looked at me and smiled. I looked at her.   
“You think so?” She asked, smiling as she put her head on my chest again.   
“I truly do.” I admitted. She just held me closer and tighter. I just placed my head on top of her black hair. Roses. She smelt like roses.   
After a while, she untangled herself from my arms and looked at me and smiled before turning to look at the castle above. I did the same thing. I swear I could see someone standing on the astronomy tower.   
“Who’s that?” I said pointing towards the Astronomy tower. Sevira looked and blushed.   
“Dumbledore.” she said with a small laugh. I just looked back up but Dumbledore was now walking towards us. He is able to apparate in the grounds of Hogwarts.   
“What a beautiful sight!” the Headmaster said, clapping his hands together and smiling. My face went red and so did Sevira’s. “I am glad you two are getting along now! Now, since you two are more than talking terms…” I am sure he is meaning more than friends by the look in his eyes. “I have had a rather angry message from our potions master Professor Slughorn, he was rather sad you asked him about Horcruxes, Harry.”   
“Yes, I am sorry, sir. I couldn’t think of any other ideas on how to require the memory you wanted.” I said defeatedly. Dumbledore gave me a look of sympathy.   
“Not to worry, Harry. Now get inside, you two. It is almost past curfew and I am sure Sevira knows all about that.” Dumbledore said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.   
“You know everything, don’t you?” I asked him.   
“Of course, I do. Why do you think I wanted Sevira to join our lessons?” Dumbledore asked before disappearing. I looked at Sevira who looked like it hadn’t bothered her.   
“Let’s go.” I said, offering her my arm. She took it and we walked back to the castle.


	10. The Forbidden Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Story Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzeLT2iSfPXgcPyQBh-hjPAMecA9rLe4b

The common room was quiet when we arrived. Hermione must have gone to bed. It was 10pm after all. Sevira sighed and sat down in one of the armchairs.   
“Is it weird for you to remember teaching me and now being the same age as me?” I asked, sitting down.   
“No, not really. I hate myself but other than that no.” she said, sighing.   
“Don’t hate yourself. It is a waste of time. Think of it as a second chance at a good life.” I said.   
“Did you read that quote in a book?” she replied with a chuckle. I just smiled and stuck my tongue out at her.   
“You are such a child.” she huffed. “Well, I must go to bed or I will be a walking zombie tomorrow.” she stood up and walked past me. I stood up quickly and placed my arms around her. “What is this?” she asked, confused.  
“A hug.” I said, simply. She wrapped her arms around me and sighed. “Have a nice sleep, Professor.”. A hand hit the back of my head and I flinched.   
“Don’t call me that.” she said jokingly.   
“Well goodnight Sevira. See you tomorrow morning.” I said, letting her go.   
“Only if you are lucky.” she said as she walked up the stone steps. I just laughed and followed her to my dormitory.   
I walked in to see Ron sitting on the floor, covered in chocolate wrappers. I walked towards him.   
“Ron? Are you okay?” I asked, slowly as I walked up to him. “Enjoy the chocolate?”  
Ron turned around and gleefully smiled. I just looked at him waiting for a response.   
“I am more than alright!” Ron exclaimed, standing up quickly and grabbing my shoulders. I glanced over to my bed to see a note that said it was from Romilda Vane. The love potion. It was in the chocolate!  
“Romilda Vane?” I asked and Ron shook me.   
“Isn’t she just wonderful!” Ron exclaimed with a smile. I just stared at him as he shook me.   
“I guess…” I said.   
“She is beautiful!” Ron exclaimed, waving his arms in the air. I just rolled my eyes.   
“What about Lavender?” I asked and Ron just scoffed.   
“Who cares about her!” Ron said. I just laughed and picked up all the chocolate wrappers. What am I supposed to do? Will this wear off? Most likely. Could I use it to my advantage?  
“I am going to take you to see Romilda Vane.” I lied. Ron jumped up and down. I gestured for him to follow me. We walked down the stone steps to see Sevira, standing there.   
“I thought you went to bed.” I said.  
“I heard the commotion.” Sevira laughed. She looked over at Ron and scoffed. “Idiot”  
I just laughed and all three of us walked out the Gryffindor common room. The corridors at this time at night looked more scary. It was quiet. Too quiet. We walked down what felt like a million steps before we reached the dungeons. We walked up to the brown door and I knocked. The small hatch on the door opened which only revealed Slughorn’s face.  
“Sorry to disturb you sir, We have a problem.” I said, moving out the way to see Ron who was staring at Slughorn.   
“Hello, beautiful.” Ron said. Sevira laughed and Slughorn went red. He opened the door and gestured us in. We helped Ron sit down at one of the sofa’s. Slughorn opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a magnum sized bottle of what looked like Sherry. He poured four glasses and handed us and stood in front of us.   
“I am sorry about what happened.” I apologised. Slughorn waved me off.   
“Don’t apologise. Water under the bridge now” Slughorn said. He sounds uncertain.   
“What are we going to do about Ron?” I asked, as Ron drank the glass and started to wander about the room. Sevira put her nose up to the glass and placed the glass on the floor beside her. She looked unsure.   
“Sir, do you have a bezoar in here?” she asked. Slughorn gave her a concerned look.   
“Of course I do but why do you ask?” Slughorn asked.   
“Because there's poison in the cherry.” She stated, standing up just as Ron fell onto the ground in front of us. He was shaking violently with foam coming out of his mouth. Slughorn rummaged through cupboards and pulled out a small green bottle. Sevira snatched it out of his hands and poured the contents down Ron’s throat. I just stood there in shock. Moments later Ron vomited and lay back down on his back.   
“Someone is trying to kill me.” Ron said, closing his eyes. I kneeled beside him and took his hand.   
“We should take him to the infirmary.” Sevira said, looking towards Slughorn who went a shade of white I have never seen.   
“Yes, of course.” Slughorn said. Sevira wrapped her arms around Ron and held him in her arms. She didn’t seem to struggle considering Ron was taller and bigger than her.   
“Do you need help?” I asked and she shook her head. We all walked to the infirmary in silence. The only time Sevira seemed to struggle was when we had to walk up the stairs.   
We entered the infirmary and was suddenly bombarded with Madam Pomfrey running towards us. She gestured for Sevira to place Ron in one of the beds.   
“What happened?” Pomfrey asked, taking Ron’s pulse.   
“There was poison in the sherry.” Sevira stated. She yawned. I looked at the time. It was midnight.   
“Professor Slughorn, you are not supposed to give alcohol to seventeen year olds!” Pomfrey warned as she scanned Ron. Slughorn didn’t respond but just turned into a bright red colour.   
“The headmaster will be here later today. Now all leave.” Pomfrey said. I wanted to stay but decided to leave with Sevira. Slughorn stayed to talk to Pomfrey. We walked tiredly through the dark corridors. A bright light interrupted us. We looked up to see Professor Snape standing in front of us.   
“What are you two doing out of bed at this hour?” he asked, pointing the wand at both of us.  
“Ron was poisoned sir.” Sevira said with a yawn.   
“Poisoned?” He repeated. Sevira nodded. “I guess with your knowledge in potions, I guess you saved him?” Snape asked me.   
“No, Sevira did.” I said which seemed to catch him by surprise.   
“Move along.” He said, walking past us without another word. Sevira just sighed and carried on walking.   
I got into bed and looked up at the ceiling above. I couldn’t help but feel bad that Ron was alone in the infirmary. I couldn’t go to him, Pomfrey would notice. She has been more alert these days according to Colin Creevey. Probably because of the ministry. I hated it. It didn’t feel like Hogwarts anymore. It feels like it will all end soon. Everything I know now is going to be lost. I know that a war is coming. I can feel it in the air around me. I closed my eyes and fell into a restless sleep.   
The next morning, I went straight to the infirmary after breakfast with Hermione. Hermione spent the breakfast being annoyed at Sevira as she didn’t wake her up. Once we entered the infirmary, we saw Ginny sitting beside Ron who was still asleep. We walked closer to the bed, Hermione sat down on the other side and I stood beside Sevira behind Ginny. We just looked at him. He was pale as snow with brown freckles all over his cheeks. He looked peaceful. It was better than what I thought it would have been. I thought he would be in some kind of pain. I heard footsteps coming towards the bed. I turned to see Professor Mcgonagall, Professor Slughorn, Professor Snape, and Professor Dumbledore. Pomfrey came over and checked Ron over.   
“Quick thinking on your part Harry for using a bezoar, you must be very proud of your student Horace.” Dumbledore said, looking at Slughorn.   
“It was Sevira, sir.” I said quickly.   
“Ah, of course it was. But still you must be proud of her horace?” Dumbledore asked again.   
“Yes. Very proud.” Slughorn said anxiously. I just looked at Ron and smiled.   
“I think we agree, Sevira’s actions were heroic. But the question is, why were they necessary?” McGonagall asked, her thick scottish accent shining through more clearly. Dumbledore walked towards Slughorn, taking the bottle of Cherry from his shaking hands.   
“Why indeed. This appears to be a gift Horace. Do you remember who gave you this bottle?” Dumbledore asked. Slughorn shook his head and looked down. “By the way it possesses subtle hints of licorice and cherry but not polluted with poison.” Dumbledore passed the bottle to Snape who smelled it afterwards.   
“Actually, I had intended to give it as a gift myself…” Slughorn said.   
“To whom, may I ask?” Dumbledore asked, looking back at Slughorn.   
“To you, Headmaster.” Slughorn admitted.   
“It was Malfoy.” Sevira said suddenly. Dumbledore turned to face her.   
“And why do you think that?” Dumbledore asked.   
“It doesn’t matter. Sorry, sir.” Sevira said looking down at her shoes.   
“You know, that I know. Right. So tell me why Draco? He was the one who cursed you, was it not?” Dumbledore said, losing the twinkle in his eye.   
“Yes it was. I believe that the Cherry was poisoned by Draco Malfoy but accidentally given to Slughorn.” She theorized. I looked at Snape who was looking at the floor. Sevira seemed not to care that Dumbledore knew who she truly was.   
“Where is he! Where is my Won-Won!” Lavender shoved past Professor Snape and stood in a panic in front of the bed. Lavender looked at Hermione who sighed in annoyance. “What is she doing here?” Lavender said, glaring at her. Hermione stood up.   
“I could ask the same thing!” Hermione replied.   
“I happen to be his girlfriend.” Lavender argues back.   
“I happen to be Professor Snape.” Sevira mocked under her breath. Loud enough for me to hear.   
“And, I happen to be his… friend” Hermione said, looking at all the teachers.   
“Oh, don’t make me laugh! You two have not spoken in weeks. Well, I guess I should leave since you suddenly find him so interesting” Lavender said. Ron began to mumble under his breath. “See! He knows I’m here! Don’t worry I am here!”   
“Her” Ron began. “Hermione” He whispered. Hermione smiled and sat back down and held his hand.   
Lavender ran out in floods of tears. Dumbledore watched as she left the infirmary.   
“Oh, how to feel young love’s mean sting.” Dumbledore said reminiscently. Sevira and Professor Snape looked annoyed. Professor Snape more so. “Come away everyone” Dumbledore said. Everyone walked out. Sevira grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door.   
“About time don’t you think?” Ginny said into my ear as I was pulled away. I blushed slightly.   
Sevira let go of my hand as we reached the doorway of the infirmary. My hand suddenly went cold. We walked in silence to the common room that was busy. Everyone seemed to have questions about what happened.   
“What happened?” everyone asked as we entered the portrait hole. I just looked down to my shoes.   
“Poisoned, but Ron is fine.” Sevira said, rolling her eyes and sitting down on the wooden chair next to the armchairs that were occupied by Seamus and Dean. I sat on the seat beside her. I looked around the room that was filled with talking and laughing. Sevira looked uncomfortable.   
“Do you want to go for a walk or something?” I suggested, noticing her anxiety. She nodded and slipped off the chair. We walked down the moving stairs and made it into the cold air. I breathed out. We walked past Hagrid’s hut and into the forbidden forest. Sevira looked around before we entered as it was strictly forbidden unless we were in detention or Care for magical creatures. It was dark even though it was the afternoon. I could hear owls and birds in the trees. It would have been relaxing if it wasn’t filled with dark creatures. Sevira was walking ahead of me. She seemed to be less tense than she was in the common room.   
“Are you feeling better?” I asked, catching up with her.   
“Yes I am.” she replied, quickly. She held her hand up to stop walking. I stood there in silence, I couldn’t hear anything but could smell something rotten. It smelled like something died.   
“Stay here.” she warned as she began to walk forward. I didn’t move. My feet felt like they were stuck on the muddy ground. Sevira disappeared into the dense trees.   
“Sevira!” I shouted as she didn’t come back for 5 minutes. I began to move in panic. I began to run when I heard noises. I hit into someone which made me fall back onto the mud.   
“I told you to stay!” Sevira said, pulling me up forcefully. I groaned. I looked around to see something big with 8 legs. I sighed sadly.   
“It’s Aragog. He is dead.” I said, sadly. Hagrid will be heartbroken.   
“It would seem so.” Sevira replied coldly.   
“He is Hagrid’s friend. He will be devastated.” I said, sighing.   
“I am sure.” she replied coldly. I just shook her coldness off as her anxiety.   
“We will need to tell Hagrid.” I said, rubbing my eyes.   
“How will we explain to him how we found him since we are not allowed in this forest?” Sevira asked, folding her arms in annoyance.   
“We will just need to take what we are given. I am not keeping this from Hagrid, Sevira.” I said, breathing through my mouth as I couldn’t stand the smell anymore. Sevira just shrugged and began to walk in the direction of Hagrid’s hut. I followed behind, feeling the anger and annoyance radiate of her and I didn’t know why. I didn’t want to question it.   
We reached the edge of the forest and began walking up to the hut in utter silence. We reached the wooden door and I knocked gently. I stood back to allow Hagrid to come out. He opened the door and smiled. He came out of his hut and stared at us.   
“‘Arry! Vira! Wha’ are ye’ doin er?” He asked, happily. I gulped and looked down. Sevira looked at me and sighed angrily.   
“Aragog is dead” she said bluntly. I looked at her in shock. Hagrid looked at Sevira and the smile fell from his face.   
“Wha’?” He said in shock. I walked towards him and reached a hand to touch his shoulder gently. “Where?” Hagrid asked.   
“Forbidden Forest, Hagrid” I replied before Sevira could. I could see large beads of tears fall from his face. “I am so sorry, Hagrid”   
“It’s fine. Now go” He said, walking into his hut and shutting his door. I turned to look at Sevira.   
“How could you do that?” I asked. Sevira looked confused. “You just had to say it so coldly.”  
“Well, what was I supposed to do? You didn’t answer” she said in annoyance.   
“I don’t know what is wrong with you but that wasn’t right and you know it.” I said.   
“Do I? Know it?” she asked.   
“Let’s just go.” I said, in annoyance. Sevira turned around and walked ahead of me and into the castle without a word. I just followed behind her like a dog. “Stop!” I said, loudly. Sevira turned around and looked at me. I could not see any emotion in her eyes. For the first time, all I could see was Professor Snape and not Sevira. “Just go.” I said, turning away from her and walking in the direction of the Great hall. No one would be there but the tables would be set up, so I could sit there myself.   
I entered the Great Hall that was empty apart from Flitwick and the choir at the front. I sat down and watched. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on. One moment me and Sevira were completely fine and the next we weren’t. My mind drifted to Ginny in the infirmary. The way she whispered in my ear excited me. I heard from whispers in the common room, that she had broken up with Dean Thomas. My mind then went back to the amortentia. Does Ginny smell like Roses? Sometimes. Does she smell of grass? Only when she is doing the garden in the burrow. Books? No, she doesn’t. But what does it matter? She seems to be a perfect fit for me. She is kind, pretty and caring and smart. I sighed in frustration at the realization of having a crush on two people. But was it a crush? Did I like Ginny like that or do I like the idea of her? I groaned quietly. It is never easy is it. Of course not.


	11. The Right Memory.

Everyone came through the doors of the great hall quickly. Everyone seemed to be rushing as if they would lose their seats. I found it funny watching the Ravenclaws tripping over one another trying to sit down. Food suddenly appeared on all the tables. The teachers were all sitting at the head table. I waited until Hermione sat across from me before I started to eat.   
“I still can’t believe Hogwarts uses house elves.” Hermione complained. I rolled my eyes slightly. “Don’t roll your eyes at me Harry. Oh, hI Ginny!” Hermione smiled as Ginny sat down beside me. Close enough that she touched my knee with hers. Hermione smiled as she noticed.   
“Hello, Ginny.” I said as I smiled at her. She smiled gently.   
“Hello, Harry.” she said with a caring smile. She piled food onto her plate and I smiled.   
I began to eat my potatoes when I saw Sevira walk into the great hall with a blank stare. She walked towards us but spotted Ginny and turned around and left the hall. I rolled my eyes.   
“So, How’s the classes?” I asked, taking a sip of my butterbeer.   
“They are good. Potions are a nightmare. What about you?” She asked, shoving potatoes into her mouth.   
“Good, Potions is my top class.” I boasted. Hermione rolled her eyes and so did Ginny.   
“Well, that is because you are cheating. You aren’t actually learning anything.” Ginny said laughing along with Hermione.   
“Whatever.” I said.   
I entered the common room and walked straight to my dormitory, ignoring the gryffindor students wishing to talk to me. I wasn’t in the mood to stay in the common room. I got changed and got into bed, pulling out the book from underneath my pillow. I opened it up and began reading. The Half-Blood Prince mentioned the Sectumsempra jinx that would incarcerate the opponent and a variety of tips for potions. It was interesting. I still wonder who wrote in it? Tom Riddle? No, I don’t think so. I groaned and put the book back under my pillow and turned to face Ron’s unoccupied bed and closed my eyes.   
The next day was quiet, Ron woke up and was discharged from the infirmary much to his happiness. He had always hated it there. He ran towards me and Hermione and hugged us both.   
“Where is Sevira?!” Ron asked, looking around the busy Great Hall. I sighed and so did Hermione.   
“We don’t know.” Hermione said, looking down at her now empty plate. Ron looked puzzled.   
“What do you mean you don’t know?” He asked.   
“Sevira and Harry seem not to be talking to each other.” Hermione said.   
“Why?” Ron asked, facing me with a confused expression plastered on his face.   
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, shrugging. Ron rolled his eyes and began to eat sausages.   
“Sevira!” Ron shouted, waving towards the Great hall door. I turned to see Sevira smile at Ron and walk towards us. Ron stood up and wrapped his arms around her. I just looked away.   
“Thank you for saving me,” Ron said, letting her go.   
“No bother, I will do it again. If I have to” She said, holding his shoulders.   
“Let’s hope not. Sit down beside me” Ron said, sitting down and creating space beside him. Sevira sat down. Her shoulders tensed up but relaxed when Ron looked at her weirdly.   
“So, why are you and Harry not talking? One minute it is me and Hermione, now it is you two” Ron asked, shoving potatoes in his mouth.   
“It doesn’t matter Ron. What matters is that you are better.” Sevira said with a fake smile. I rolled my eyes.   
“See you later.” I said and stood up abruptly and walked out the Great Hall and up to the Common room. I sat in the armchair and sighed as the warmth of the fire hit my face. My mind raced from Sevira to Ginny to Slughorn and then to Dumbledore’s cursed hand. Was there even a cure? I wish there was but I knew it was unlikely. So Dumbledore is going to die? Obviously he knows. I wonder what it feels like to know you are going to die as well as dying at the same time. I was very lucky I don’t need to die or that I am dying. I should be grateful but I can’t help not to be. I hated the expectation that I am the only way to defeat Voldemort. I wish people would stop using me as a pawn in their own game. The day Voldemort is defeated is the day that I am finally free from the clutches of the wizarding world. I don’t hate the wizarding world, I just hate what it has done to all of us. The Ministry, I mean. The ministry has screwed up everything to the point I worry it will never be fixed. I shook my head and stared at the burning flames once more. Maybe once this is all over, I will move away to somewhere where it is quiet. Like the countryside. I laughed at myself. As if that would happen. I don’t think I will be free.  
Hermione and Ron came running around the corner and sighed in relief once they saw me.   
“There you are, we were worried.” Hermione said, slightly out of breath.   
“Here I am.” I replied. Hermione and Ron sat down and looked at me in concern. “What?”   
“We are just concerned. You seem weird. Are you having visions?” Ron asked.   
“No. I would tell you if I did.” I said, looking at both of them.   
“Is it Sevira?” Hermione asked and I rolled my eyes.   
“Not everything is about her. I am done with her mood swings.” I said in frustration.   
“Tell us the truth.” Ron said.   
“She is the future version of Professor Snape” I said, giving up the lie. Ron and Hermione stared at me for a few minutes. I began to explain how and why Snape is like her now. Hermione looked intrigued when I finished.   
“Interesting… So why is she here?” Hermione asked.   
“McGonagall sent her here. She got rid of some of her memories but they came back the other day. Don’t ask why she is able to be here with her past self. I don’t understand it.” I said.   
“She gave us Firebolt 2001’s, that doesn’t sound like something Snape would do.” Ron said quietly.   
“I don’t think she wants to be him anymore.” I said. “Now that she remembers everything. I believe she is struggling to choose who she wants to be.” I said, sadly.   
“Let’s treat her the same as before,” Ron said, sighing. At that moment, Sevira walked through the portrait hole. We all sat quietly as she walked in our direction. “Sit here.” Ron said, pointing to an available chair. Sevira sat down and sighed. “How is your day?” Ron asked. Very out of character.   
“Eh, fine. It was alright.” Sevira said. Hermione smiled at her.   
“That’s good.” Ron said, nodding with a smile. Sevira looked uncomfortable.  
“We know who you are.” Hermione said, glaring at Ron.   
“What?” Sevira asked even though she heard what she said.  
“We know who you are. We know you are Snape.” Hermione said. Sevira glared at me.   
“You told them after I told you not to?” Sevira asked in disbelief.   
“It is difficult to not tell them! They will keep it a secret.” I said, putting my head in my hands.   
“We won’t tell.” they both said at the same time.   
“It wasn’t your secret to tell, Potter.” Sevira sneered.   
“Back to Potter is it?” I asked, sighing in annoyance.   
“Yes, you have lost the respect I had for you.” Sevira replied truthfully. Hermione sighed. I just looked around the empty common room.  
“No wonder, you didn’t have any friends when you were at school the first time” I replied, coldly.   
“Harry!” Hermione exclaimed. “Enough!”.   
I looked at Hermione who looked angry at me. I didn’t understand why. I looked at Sevira who was staring at me. I could see that her eyes were tearing up. I looked down.   
“Apologise now, Harry,” Hermione scolded.   
“You are right. Sorry Sevira,” I apologised. Sevira just left and went up the stone steps to her dormitory.   
“Well done, Harry.” Ron said sarcastically. I just rolled my eyes.   
“That was uncalled for even for you.” Hermione said, walking up the stone steps leaving me and Ron alone. Ron just sighed in frustration.  
“You don’t know when to stop, do you?” Ron asked, grunting in annoyance.   
“I guess not.” I said, looking at him.   
“I know it is difficult to know that the person you have a crush on is your old potions professor but c’mon it doesn’t matter.” Ron said.   
“Had not have. I had a crush on her.” I said.  
“If you say so,” Ron said, standing up and yawning.   
Days turned into another month and I seemed unable to find any happiness in the days that passed. Everything seemed dull and boring. Potions bored me and Defence Against the Dark Arts was even more boring and depressing. Sevira was working with Luna Lovegood now and I was working with Neville. He seemed to improve everyday since the DA. Not that it mattered. Hogwarts felt broken. I didn’t know why it did. Hermione told me I was being silly. Ron broke up with Lavender which made Hermione happier than before. I caught her smiling at the fact. Ron looked relieved to be free from the clutches of Lavender Brown. She glared at all three of us everytime we saw each other. Ginny continued to lean on me and try to be as close to me as humanly possible. I didn’t mind. I liked it.  
I walked into the evening breeze, my scarf was keeping my neck warm. The spring evening was just as chilly as the winter one. I looked around the darkness contemplating everything. Ginny was in the library studying potions. I was asked to join but couldn’t feel bothered reading stuff I already knew. The gravel underneath me crunched everytime I walked until I was on the soft green grass. I sat down on the hill, I could see the Black Lake, Hagrid’s hut and the forbidden forest. I looked over at Hagrid’s hut to see him standing over a body. Aragog. Hagrid wasn’t alone, Slughorn was there as well. I walked down the hill and walked towards them.   
“Hullo Hagrid and Professor Slughorn,” I said from behind them. Hagrid turned around with tear stained cheeks and Slughorn gave me a beaming smile.   
“Oh, Harry! It is almost curfew. Nevermind. We are having a funeral for Hagrid’s arachnid friend Aragog. Come and join us!” Slughorn said. I stood beside them. Aragog was rotting away, it was disgusting but I didn’t comment on it as it wasn’t the time. I looked over at Hagrid who was sniffling and Slughorn who was standing there awkwardly.   
“I have never seen such a huge spider. Do you mind Hagrid if I take a specimen?” He asked looking up to the half giant.   
“Ye’ o’ course,” Hagrid said. Slughorn walked up to the rotting arachnid and pulled out a large jar from his purple cloak. He snapped one of Aragog's thangs off and placed it in the bottle and back into the pocket. I wanted to gag at the sight of it.  
“Farewell Aragog, king of the arachnids, whose long and faithful friendship with those who knew you won’t forget! Though your body will decay, your spirit lingers on in the quiet , web-spun places of your forest home. May your many-eyed descendants ever flourish and your human friends find solace for the loss they have sustained.” Slughorn said, slowly looking down. Hagrid wiped his big nose.   
“Tha’ was beautiful.” Hagrid said, sadly. I nodded with a sad smile.   
We stood there in the cold just staring at Aragog. I didn’t feel sad. I knew that I should be for Hagrid’s sake but I couldn’t feel anything. I felt like everything was drained out of me.   
As the evening progressed, we ended up inside Hagrid’s hut. Slughorn and Hagrid were drinking but Slughorn forbade me to have any given what happened last time with Ron. I rolled my eyes at that. I used a refilling charm to keep them drinking.   
“Sir, what was my mother like?” I asked, looking at a now drunk Slughorn.   
“Your mother was a fantastic woman! She was talented in almost every subject. Her and Professor Snape used to study together. Until their 5th year that is.” Slughorn said, slurring his words slightly.   
“Professor Snape and my mother were friends?” I asked, slightly perplexed.   
“Of course. But I shouldn’t go into that Harry. Not my place.” Slughorn said, finishing his drink and I refilled it. At this point., Hagrid dozed off to sleep.   
“Sir, I mean no offence. But why did you give the headmaster the wrong memory?” I asked.   
“Who said I gave him the wrong memory?” Slughorn asked, swirly his wine in his goblet.   
“Dumbledore, sir.” I replied honestly.   
“Of course. Well I guess you will need it.” Slughorn said reluctantly and pulled his wand out from his sleeve. He also took out a small vial. He placed the wand on his head and a bright string of blue light came out from his head. He placed it in the vial and reluctantly passed it to me.   
“We must go.” Slughorn said. We left the hut quietly and walked up to the castle above.   
The common room was deserted at this time. I walked straight to my dormitory and placed the vial on my bedside before laying down. I closed my eyes, in the hope to fall asleep so I could go straight to Dumbledore with the real memory.   
The morning passed quickly and I was walking down the corridor quickly hoping that no one wanted to talk to me. I reached the Gryffin.   
“Acid Pops” I said and the statue moved to reveal moving stairs. I walked up them until I reached the wooden door. I knocked loudly.   
“Come in,” I heard as I opened the door. I closed the door behind me before looking up to see Sevira sitting there in front of the desk.   
“I was expecting you, I see you have got the real memory. Well done, now come.” Dumbledore said quickly, pulling out the pensieve. I passed the vial to him. I didn’t look at Sevira at all. “This is now my most prized memory and thanks to you, Harry. We will finally find out what he said.” Dumbledore poured the contents into the pensieve and we were all falling.  
The aftermath of the memory was weird. Why did Slughorn tell Tom Riddle about Horcruxes and tell him how they are able to split their soul.  
“Why did he tell him about them?” I asked, looking at Dumbledore who sat back down in his chair. Sevira did so as well.   
“I guess, he believed it was hypothetical. Slughorn believed that Tom was only wishing to know in an academic view but I suspect that Slughorn now feels the guilt.” Dumbledore theorized. I sat down. Dumbledore looked at the two of us in suspicion.   
“What has happened to you two?” He asked. I just shrugged.   
“It doesn’t matter, sir.” I said and Sevira just scoffed. I looked at her and back at Dumbledore.   
“Maybe it is because you can’t keep anything to yourself.” Sevira said, breaking the silence.   
“I apologised didn’t I?” I asked, folding my arms.   
“An apology isn't going to make it better. I told you to keep it to yourself but you didn’t listen.” Sevira said, scoffing.   
“I don’t know what to do. You have been acting odd even before I told them. Whatever is going through your head, it isn’t needed. We have bigger fish to fry.” I said.   
“How about you try being me and see how it feels.” she replied, sneering.   
“Well I can't, can I? So please drop it.” I said.   
“No, also the comment you made in the common room. That was unneeded.” Sevira said.   
“Was it?” I said, losing my temper. Sevira tensed up.   
“Okay, let’s sort this out. Harry you are in the wrong here.” Dumbledore said.   
“How? I am fed up of being treated like I am some kind of dog.” I replied.   
“We are all fed up but I promise it will get better soon. Sevira is Snape but she is different and you know it. Sevira is able to show her feelings without feeling that she has to hide them. Let her be who she is. She needs to find who she is.” Dumbledore said kindly. I just sighed and looked at her.   
“I am sorry, Sevira. What I have said was and is uncalled for.” I said, smiling sadly.   
“Sevira, you are not the innocent party in all of this.” Dumbledore said.   
“I know,” she said, sadly.   
“I am sorry.” she said, facing me. I held out my hand and she took it. Dumbledore smiled.   
“Right, glad your friends again.” Dumbledore said laughing. Sevira let go of my hand and looked at the headmaster. “We need to go on a trip.” Me and Sevira looked at him in confusion.  
“There is a cave in England that I believe holds the very thing that we are needing. A horcrux. Tom Riddle went to a beach with his orphanage before coming to Hogwarts. He found a cave where he terrorized two orphans. I believe it holds a horcrux. Will you two accompany me?” Dumbledore asked.   
“Of course.” Sevira said, looking down at the floor.   
“Do you remember this happening when you were Professor Snape?” Dumbledore asked.   
“No, I don’t. I remembered everything the other day but it is slowly fading. I don’t understand.” Sevira admitted.   
“I believe this will happen often. So next thursday, meet at the astronomy tower at 2pm. Off you go.” Dumbledore dismissed us.   
We walked out of his office in silence and walked down the stairs. The daylight shone through the arches as we walked to the courtyard. It was only 3pm. So, we decided to sit in the courtyard. It was deserted apart from a few ravenclaws. We sat down on a wooden bench in silence. I looked at her before opening my bag and pulling out a book. ‘Sense and Sensibility’. I found it in the library the other day. Sevira looked at it in fascination.   
“That is a good book. I cried.” she admitted and I smiled as I began to read. Sevira pulled out her book which was ‘Lord of the Rings’. She seemed to read this one slower than the rest. It was peaceful as we sat in the silence. I could hear the birds above flying over the school grounds. I began to feel happy, for the first time in weeks. I felt hands on my shoulders.   
“Hiya Harry,” I looked up to see Ginny smiling at me. I smiled. She squeezed herself beside me.   
“Hello, Gin.” I replied, with a smile. I felt Sevira tense up before relaxing. Ginny played with my hair. It felt nice.   
“I have been looking for you for ages. Where were you?” she asked with a small pout.   
“We were in the library.” I said, smiling at her. Ginny let go of my hair.   
“I was in the library, but you weren’t there.” Ginny said in confusion.   
“We were under the invisibility cloak.” I lied.  
“We?” Ginny asked.  
“Me and Sevira.” I said, shutting my book. I looked up to see Ginny frown slightly.   
“What?” I asked.   
“Nothing, I will leave you to it.” Ginny said walking off. I stared into the courtyard in confusion which made Sevira laugh.   
“You are an idiot. She has a crush on you. She is jealous that you are with me.” Sevira said, not looking up from her book.   
“Don’t be silly. Who would have a crush on me?” I said, laughing.   
“You have very little faith in yourself. It would surprise you the amount of girls and guys have a crush on you.” Sevira said without much thought.   
“Do you have a crush on me?” I pretended to joke but wanted to know.   
“No, of course not.” Sevira said, shaking her head. I opened my book and began to read again until we could see the sun begin to set creating an amber light.


	12. The "Flu"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Authors note// I will be going on a break for a few days!

The Great Hall was busy when me and Sevira entered. We spotted Hermione and Ron who waved at us happily. We sat down across from each other. The food appeared and I began filing my plate with steak and chips. Sevira plated hers but only had potatoes and carrots. Ron had 3 steaks and a mountain of chips. I laughed at the sight. Hermione had the same as me. I looked across at the Slytherin table to see Malfoy glaring at me with nothing on his plate. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat which got the attention of Sevira who turned around.  
“Don’t worry about it. Malfoy is just having a bad time. Just keep your head down.” Sevira said with a small smile. Obviously she would know why. I looked down at my plate and continued to eat. The dinner was nice. First time in weeks, I enjoyed eating. Ginny sat beside me and smiled. I looked up to see Sevira smirking. I turned and smiled at her. I passed her the potato spoon to Ginny and smiled. She blushed and thanked me. Ron looked at me in confusion before turning back to his steak. Hermione was smiling. I rolled my eyes.  
It went by peacefully. No one abruptly left. Good sign that things were starting to become more normal. Whatever normal is.  
We all walked up to the common room. We entered it being busy. I looked over at Sevira to check if she was alright. She seemed fine. We found seats.  
“Have you finished the Charm’s homework yet?” Hermione asked as we all took our seats.  
“Yes” I replied.  
“Of course” Sevira said.  
“Nope” Ron said with a happy smile.  
“Yes.” Ginny replied.  
Hermione sighed happily. Ron took out 2 pieces of parchment and began his charms homework. Hermione helped him. Lucky git. Ginny leaned on me slightly and sighed. I smiled slightly.  
“Come on a walk with me?” Ginny suggested. I nodded and followed her out the portrait hole. I looked behind me to see Sevira smirking along with Hermione. We walked down to the abandoned corridor and into the classroom.  
“That was a very short walk,” I commented. Ginny chuckled.  
“Yes it was.” Ginny said as she walked closer to me. She was close enough that I could feel her breath on my cheek. She smiled. I leaned in, pressing my lips against hers. We stood there in the middle of the classroom. Did this feel right? I didn’t know. I felt guilty. We stopped and stared at each other. Before she could lean in, I stepped back. Ginny looked confused. I turned around to look at the door. I thought I heard it crack.  
“Are you alright?” she asked me.  
“Of course.” I replied with a soft smile. Ginny moved closer to me and pressed her lips on mine again. I kissed her back gently. It didn’t feel awkward like a few minutes ago. It felt nice. I touched her cheek and stroked it gently. After a few minutes she let go and stepped back and smiled. I smiled back.  
“Finally” Ginny whispered.  
“What do you mean?” I asked.  
“I have had a crush on you for years and now I don’t need to hide it.” Ginny said.  
“You don’t need to hide it. Not from me.” I said, smiling. I offered her my hand. She took it. It felt cold. We walked back to the common room that was still swamped with students. We found Hermione and Ron.  
“Hey, where is Sevira?” I said. Hermione looked at me and smiled.  
“She went looking for you.” Hermione said, closing her book. Ron folded his parchment and looked at me with a smile.  
“She should be back soon. How was your walk with Ginny?” Ron asked.  
“Eventful.” I replied shortly. Ron and Hermione laughed and I blushed. Ginny went over to talk to Neville and Katie Bell. I sat down in the chair and looked around.  
“How was it?” Hermione asked.  
“How was what?” I asked. Ron rolled his eyes.  
“Kissing my sister, of course.” he said.  
“Fine.” I replied.  
“Just fine?” Hermione asked, frowning a little.  
“It was just a kiss. Nothing special.” I said truthfully. Hermione and Ron looked at each other.  
“Interesting…” Hermione said, looking at me. I rolled my eyes. I heard the portrait hole open and in came Sevira who looked like she had been swimming in the black lake. She walked up to us.  
“What happened to you?” Ron asked.  
“I fell into the black lake.” she replied, shivering. I stood up and grabbed a blanket which was lying on one of the chairs and wrapped it around her tightly.  
“What were you doing out there?” I said as I made sure she is warm enough.  
“I was looking for you and I saw you and Ginny kiss, so I decided to leave you guys to it and I went outside to get some air.” She replied. I could hear the coldness in her voice. I sighed.  
“Be careful, next time.” I warned. I pulled out her chair for her to sit on. Hermione and Ron laughed again.  
“What are you laughing at?” I asked, in frustration.  
“Nothing.” they said at the same time. Sevira shivered in her blanket. I put an arm around her and pulled her into my chest in the hope it would heat her up. She sighed and leaned in.  
“Promise me, you will be careful next time.” I said. Sevira nodded. I looked up to see Ginny walking towards me.  
“What is happening here?” she asked in a higher pitch.  
“Sevira, fell into the black lake.” I said, smiling at her.  
“Oh, maybe she should go for a shower” Ginny suggested. Sevira sat up and sighed. She hopped off her seat and walked towards the Gryffindor shower room. She placed the blanket on the chair and closed the door. Ginny smiled at me and sat beside me, leaning her head on my shoulder. Hermione sighed, sadly before standing up.  
“Sevira, hasn’t got a change of clothes in the bathroom. So, I am going to get it for her.” Hermione said, running up with stoned steps. I just sighed. Ron was looking over his homework for charms. He sighed every few minutes. Ginny kissed my cheek before leaving to head up to her dormitory. At that moment, Sevira came out of the bathroom in pyjamas. Her hair was towel dried and put into a ponytail. She looked over at me and smiled before heading to her dormitory.  
The next day consisted of potions and Herbology. Nothing special occurred during these lessons apart from Slughorn acting strange but I just put that down to him feeling guilty.  
Sevira moved back to sit beside me which made me smile all the way through Herbology after lunch. She seemed to become the Sevira before she remembered. Not that I cared anymore. If she remembered everything, I didn’t care. Snape in my eyes has changed even though I don’t like him, I don’t hate him like before.  
We walked down to Defence Against the Dark Arts the next day, chatting about our homework. I wasn’t confident that I would pass it. We stood outside the classroom waiting for Professor Snape. We seemed to stand out here longer than expected. Sevira sighed and Hermione and Ron groaned in frustration. The whole class which included the Gryffindors and the Slytherin’s were becoming impatient.  
“Where is he?” Ron asked.  
Before I could answer the door swung open to reveal Professor Snape who looked like he just woke up.  
“In.” He said, walking to his desk As we all found our seats, I noticed that Snape looked like he was about to fall asleep. That was why we weren’t duelling today. He was too tired to supervise. I looked at Sevira who looked concerned. She put her bag down and walked over to Snape’s desk. The whole class went silent.  
“Sir, shall we just take private study, today.” Sevira suggested. Snape looked at her with a mixture of disgust and fatigue.  
“No, I am fine. 10 points from Gryffindor for suggesting such a thing.” Snape sneered. The Gryffindors groaned. Sevira sat back down beside me quickly.  
“I tried.” she said quietly.  
We took out our parchment as we were asked to write a 2 foot long essay on Dementors. We all groaned including Sevira. She began writing and so did I. I tried to cast my memory back to my 3rd year and my 5th year when I had a few occurrences with them. All unintentional. I tapped my feather on the side of the desk and looked up to see Snape sleeping. He was leaning his head on his desk.  
“Is he asleep?” I asked Sevira who looked up.  
“Apparently so. My standards of teaching have definitely dropped. I hate to see it.” she said, sighing. She continued to write. I looked over at her work, she seemed to be almost done. Her handwriting looked similar. Well obviously she was Snape so I have seen his handwriting but it reminded me of something else. I shrugged it off and continued to write.  
“How is Ginny?” Sevira asked suddenly. She put her feather down and I looked at her.  
“She is fine, far as I know.” I said.  
“I assumed you would know considering she is your girlfriend.” she said.  
“I am not an Occlumens, so I wouldn’t know. And why do you care?” I asked, placing my feather down.  
“I don’t.” she said as she went and played with the feather. I finished my work. As the bell rang, we didn’t wait to be dismissed, we just left not wanting to wake him.  
“Why was he sleeping?” Ron asked as we walked down for dinner. I just shrugged. Ron just looked at Sevira.  
“I don’t remember.” she said quietly. Ron only smiled. Hermione walked in silence. Something was on her mind.  
“What is wrong Hermione?” I asked, walking beside her. She looked at me and smiled.  
“Oh, just thinking about Dumbledore’s cursed hand. I still haven’t found anything that could cure him.” Hermione said, sighing sadly. I couldn’t answer. All the words I was wanting to say, I couldn’t. I had to at least keep one promise. Sevira smiled quickly before going back to looking miserable.  
“I don’t know, Mione. Maybe it is time, he go’s.” I said, sadly. Ron and Hermione stopped walking and looked at me.  
“That is Dumbledore you are talking about Harry. He may come as a great help for the war.” Ron said, beginning to walk again towards the great hall.  
“He has helped enough.” I said. Dumbledore has done a great deal, with helping me understand the backstory of Tom Riddle and Horcruxes. The thing that we are tasked to find.  
“Helped by doing what? Showing you a few memories. Memories won’t defeat the Dark Lord, Harry.” Ron said, in frustration. We entered the Great Hall and took our seats. The food had not yet appeared.  
“Memories can help a lot.” Sevira said, tapping her fingers off the wooden table.  
“You seem to keep forgetting yours. You are useful at telling us what we need to do to defeat Voldemort.” Ron said. Sevira rolled her eyes at him.  
“Who said, I was going to help you defeat the Dark Lord?” Sevira asked, looking at all three of us. We all couldn't answer her. “I am kidding.”  
We all sighed in relief at her words. Sevira just smiled. Her smile disappeared as Ginny sat down beside me. She kissed my cheek and Ron made a gagging noise. Ginny glared at him as she sat down. I took a sip of my drink that didn’t taste right. The food appeared and I was suddenly not very hungry. I put food on my plate but just played with it with my fork.  
“You have to eat, Harry.” Ginny said, looking at me in concern. I just looked at her and smiled. I picked up some carrots and ate them. They tasted bland. Which was unusual for the house elves.  
“Are you alright?” Sevira asked.  
“I feel fine, just not hungry” I said as everyone seemed to look at me in concern. Hermione went back to her food. I felt my stomach gurgle. Which made me feel nauseous. “I don’t feel well, so I am going to go to bed.”  
“Let me help you.” Sevira said standing but Ginny grabbed my arm.  
“No, it is fine Sevira. I will take him. I am his girlfriend after all.” Ginny said with a cold smile. She wrapped her arm around me as we walked out of the Great Hall. I turned my head to see Sevira smile at me before she disappeared as we walked up the stairs to the moving ones. I felt like I was going to throw up everytime the staircase moved.  
We both entered the boy’s dormitory and I was placed on my bed gently. Ginny took off my trainers and placed them beside my bed. She took out a pair of pyjamas from my chest at the end of my bed and placed it on the end of my bed.  
“Are you able to get dressed?” She asked. I nodded. She turned around as I got changed. Once dressed, I coughed to let her know she can turn around. I lay on my pillow and she tucked me in like a mother would do with her child. She took out her want and placed a heating spell on my duvet. And transfigured my lamp into a small basin.  
“Just in case you are sick.” she said with a kind smile.  
“Thank you so much, Gin.” I said, softly. She kissed me before ending out the door. I lay there in silence. I closed my eyes.  
Creak….. footsteps … door shutting. I opened my eyes to see what the noise was. I looked out the window to see that it was pitch black out. I pulled out my wand from my bedside table and casted a lumos. It was midnight. I looked around the room to see Sevira standing in the doorway. I jumped slightly.  
“Sevira, what are you doing here?” I whispered as everyone else was asleep. I casted a muffliato charm.  
“I was just checking if you were okay.” she said, walking over to me and sitting on the edge of the bed beside me.  
“I am fine, still feel sick.” I said. I smiled. Sevira sighed in relief.  
“I was worried.” she said quietly.  
“Nothing to worry about, Vira” I said tiredly. I yawned. She smiled.  
“Is that my new nickname?” She asked with a small laugh.  
“Do you like it?” I asked.  
“Yes” She replied quickly. I could feel something coming up my throat. Without hesitation, Sevira grabbed the small basin and held it up to my mouth. All of my stomach’s contents made an appearance in the basin. I gagged until it stopped. I gasped for air, lying against my warm pillow. As I lay there, I felt Sevira’s hand on my forehead.  
“You seem to have a fever.” she said. She touched the duvet and gasped. “That is too hot. Who made it like this?” she asked me in a panic.  
“Gin.” was all I could say to her.  
“Idiot girl.” Sevira whispered, pulling the duvet off me. All I could think was at least I had pyjamas on. Sevira waved her wand silently. She then placed the duvet over me. It was colder than before. I sighed in relief. “Much better. You won’t get a heat stroke now.”  
“What do you think it is?” I asked, trying to force sick to stay down.  
“It seems like a stomach flu. Do you mind if I sleep in this chair, so I could keep an eye on you?” Sevira asked.  
“If you wish, you can just sleep beside me if you want.” I suggested and she gave me an odd look. “It is fine.”  
She walked to the other side of the bed and got in beside me, closing the bed curtains so none of the boys got the wrong idea if they saw her.  
We lay there in silence, I could hear the owls outside my window. It felt right. I turned to face Sevira who had already fallen asleep. I smiled and moved the hair out of her face. She looked peaceful. I closed my eyes and drifted into a sleep that I will always remember. The night she stayed with me.  
The next morning, I opened my eyes to see Ginny glaring over me. I jumped slightly which woke Sevira up.  
“Oh, hello Ginny.” I said with a smile. She continued to glare at me. I felt Sevira huff before turning to face away from us.  
“What do you call this?” Ginny asked, coldly.  
“Sevira, came in to check on me last night and she fell asleep. We didn’t do anything. I promise.” I said sleepily.  
“Hmm. How are you feeling?” Ginny asked, sitting down on the chair.  
“Better.” I said, truthfully. I had a headache but I didn’t feel sick anymore. Ginny passed me a drink and I sipped it. “Thanks.” I said, looking at Ginny. She smiled. I had a sudden urge to kiss her and I didn’t know where that came from. I swung my legs over my bed and crashed my lips on hers forcefully. I felt a sudden love for her. More than I thought I had for her. I let go when I heard a groan beside me. I turned around to see Sevira sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing her eyes.  
“Good morning.” I said. Ginny grabbed my chin and pulled me into another kiss. I felt the mattress move and then the door shut. “Breakfast?”  
Ginny let go and we walked hand in hand to the Great Hall. When we entered I spotted Ron, Hermione and Sevira. We sat with them.  
“You seem to feel better, Harry.” Hermione observed. I just piled food onto my plate.  
“I do, I feel better. Ginny helped a lot.” I said with a beaming smile. Hermione looked at me oddly and so did Ron.  
“That is good.” Sevira said, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. I looked at her but turned back to face Lavender. I pulled her in for another kiss which made Ron gag. I glared at him but kept my focus on Ginny.  
“Stop it, you two!” Ron said, loudly. But I didn’t listen.  
I felt something wet and cold being poured over my head which made me jump back in fright. I turned over to see Sevira placing her now empty goblet on the wooden table.  
“What was that for!” I exclaimed. Sevira scoffed and so did Ron.  
“We told you to stop it. It is also rude.” Ron said in defence of Sevira. I just rolled my eyes. I looked at Ginny who looked upset that she was now covered in pumpkin juice.  
“Come on, Ginny. We are obviously not wanted.” I said, in anger. I held out my hand and Ginny took it and I walked outside with her. Into the nice cold morning air. I smiled at her. I couldn’t help but feel strange but I didn’t care as long as I was with Ginny. I still didn’t know where these strong feelings came from. Not that I seemed to care.  
We walked until I could hear the bell ring for the first class. As me and Ginny were in separate years, we were in separate classes. I pulled her in and kissed her and quickly left for Charms.  
I ran into the class, late. I sat down as Flitwick took 5 points from Gryffindor. Hermione and Ron groaned. I sat beside Sevira who was focusing on what Flitwick was saying.  
“Today, Class we are going to be learning about the Blackboard Writing Spell. Now, take out the small blackboards that I have placed under your desks. What you should do is wave your wand” Flitwick said, demonstrating how to move our wands correctly. “Like a squiggly line and a line down while saying Isoortia. Now try it for yourselves” Flitwick said as he stood on a pile of books to seem taller than he was. I took out my wand and pointed it at my chalk which was lying on top of my blackboard.  
“Isoortia” I said, calmly waving my wand in the same way Flitwick showed. Nothing. I tried and tried but nothing. Sevira waved her wand and it instantly worked. Hermione did the same and even Ron was able to manage it.  
“Well done! Three of you! 20 points to Gryffindor!” Flitwick bellowed. The Ravenclaws groaned in annoyance. Flitwick looked at Hermione, Ron and Sevira with such praise. I was jealous. I tried again, nothing.  
“You are doing it wrong.” Sevira said, staring at me. “You are supposed to do this.” Sevira leaned over me, holding the back of my hand which held my wand and waved it in a similar way I did before.  
“Isoortia” I said and the chalk began writing. It spelled out. ‘I love Ginny.’ I didn’t even know why it did spell that out.  
“Disgusting.” Sevira said, quietly. Letting my arm go and sitting back down, staring at the Ravenclaw students who were sitting across the classroom.  
“Why is it disgusting? I love her.” I said, I didn’t know why I loved her, I just did.  
“Good for you.” Sevira said, bluntly. Hermione grabbed her hand for no reason before continuing to write notes. I just rolled my eyes and wrote my notes as well.


	13. The Love Potion.

All I could think about was Ginny. Class ended and I groaned in frustration as I had Potions next. I walked behind the three of them to the dungeons. I wanted to see Ginny. That is all I cared about. I dragged my feet across the ground until we reached the classroom.   
We all entered and sat down. Sevira looked at me and rolled her eyes. I glared at her before sitting beside her. Slughorn walked to the front of the class and I rolled my eyes. What was the point of being here, if I am not with Ginny. I slumped in my seat, not listening to a word Slughorn was saying. My mind drifted off to Ginny again. I sat there staring at the wall.   
“Sir, what is the name of the antidote that stops a love potion?” Hermione asked, taking me out of my daydream.   
“Why do you ask?” Slughorn asked her.   
“I believe my friend here has been given a love potion.” Hermione said, gesturing to me.   
“What is it with Harry and Ron being given love potions.” Slughorn sighed, going into the store cupboard and bringing out a vial that looked like it had water in it. Slughorn approached me and passed me the vial. I looked at him in confusion. I took the vial reluctantly and downed the contents. I felt a sudden rush of relief. I sighed.   
“Who gave him the love potion?” Slughorn asked and the whole classroom stared at me.   
“Ginny Weasley.” Ron said angrily. Clenching his fists on the table.   
“Wait… Ginny gave me a love potion?” I asked, trying to process the information. The three of them nodded. I felt a sudden wave of nausea. Probably from the fact I had trusted Ginny. I thought she was one of the good ones. I wanted to jinx her out of the school. Sevira sat there staring at the wall in front of us. She didn’t look at me. I felt a sudden wave of guilt. I remember treating her badly. I looked down. Slughorn sighed and continued with his lessons on everlasting elixirs.   
The class ended and I walked out with Hermione and Ron holding me by my shoulder and Sevira walking behind us. I didn’t know how to feel. I felt drained but that was it. We walked up to the common room and sat down next to the fire.   
“I am going to kill her.” Ron said angrily. Hermione tutted.   
“We all feel like that, believe me, but wishing injury on someone is not any better,” she warned and Ron and Sevira rolled their eyes.   
“I can’t believe she did that,” Ron said, looking at me in concern.   
“Me neither.” I replied, shaking slightly. I felt an arm around my shoulder. I looked around to see it was Sevira. She rubbed my shoulder gently. I guess that was her way of comforting me. Hermione smiled slightly.   
“I believe the reason you were sick last night is because she gave you another version of the love potion but it didn’t agree with you.” Hermione theorized. I sighed and nodded. We all sat in silence. We didn’t feel the need to talk. Sevira stayed beside me. I wasn’t shivering anymore but I didn’t mention it. I didn’t care.   
Ginny came walking through a few hours later when we were all doing Potion homework. She spotted me and made her way towards me. Before she was able to reach me. Ron pulled out his wand and stood in front of me, pointing it at her.   
“You put a love potion in Harry’s drink!” Ron accused her. She didn’t seem put off by the wand that was pointing at her.   
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” she said coldly and I scoffed.   
“Yes you did. Don’t lie to me, Ginevra Weasley!” Ron scolded. Ginny pushed his wand out of her ways and walked past Ron.   
“I am not lying…” she said quietly.   
“I am ashamed of you.” Ron said, standing in front of her again. Ginny scoffed and looked at her older brother.   
“Go away, Ginny,” I warned. I didn’t want to see her or even hear from her. She had broken my trust.   
“Maybe, if you were not so hard to get. I would not have needed to use a potion!” She exclaimed, giving up the lie she was trying to obtain. Hermione stood beside Ron and Sevira did as well, blocking her from seeing me or me seeing her.   
“Maybe if I actually liked you like that. Then maybe but I don't. I will never.” I said quietly. Ginny stomped out of the common room. Ron slumped where he stood and sat back down. Hermione and Sevira did the same. I sighed and rubbed my eyes.   
“Woman will kill me one day” I commented, sighing.   
“We do try.” Sevira joked. We all laughed.   
That night in the dormitory was quiet. Today was not my favourite day, that is for sure. Being forced to love someone isn’t a nice thought. Was this how Tom Riddle Sr felt when Merope Gaunt did the same thing. Lucky for me, I have friends who know what it is. I felt relieved that I had them three. If I didn’t, I would be forced to love someone for the rest of my life. One thing I know about Ginny, is that she is determined. Meaning that she will try everything she can to get what she wants until there are no other options left. I shivered at the thought. I have more to worry about. From Voldemort and now I am having to worry about what Ginny is going to try to do next. I groaned into my pillow in frustration. Maybe once in my life, I will be able to live my life without the fear of being murdered or poisoned. I just wanted it all to end. Why can’t we just agree to disagree and leave it and then live in peace. I guess that was not an option. One day, I will be free and that day can not arrive any sooner. I looked up at the white ceiling and began to think about Sirius. It seems that whenever I am alone, I miss him more and more. Part of me can’t help but blame Snape for his death but I know that he was not the cause. Sirius has a mind of his own and Snape would not be able to have changed my Godfather’s mind. I felt a twinge in my chest. Remembering seeing him go into the veil, still haunts me to this day. Watching him die, killed me. A part of me died that night along with him. He tried his best of course. But maybe it was his time to go. I guess everyone has a time to go. At least he is with my mother and father wherever we go when we die. I sighed and closed my eyes. I ended up dreaming about that night in the ministry but only this time he survived. How I wish it was true.   
I woke up with a start the next day. It was saturday, I sighed lying back down on my pillow. I turned to see Ron sitting beside me with a sad smile.   
“What?” I asked.   
“You were crying throughout the night. I know you miss him.” Ron said, lying beside me. We faced each other in silence. I never noticed that I had been crying throughout my sleep.   
“Sorry if I woke you up.” I said, every other person’s bed was empty.   
“Don’t worry about it.” Ron smiled. We stared at each other.   
“Breakfast?” I asked and he nodded. We got dressed and went down to the Great Hall. We spotted Sevira and Hermione who were talking. Once I was in earshot, all I could hear was ringing. Sevira or Hermione is using the muffliato spell. I looked at them both as I sat down across from Ron. I wonder what they are talking about. I looked over to the Slytherin table. Malfoy wasn’t there. Where was he? It infuriated me that I didn’t know where he was.  
“Did you hear that Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini were making out in the corridor outside Potions?” a Hufflepuff said to her friend as they walked past me. My head turned and So did Sevira’s. I could now hear what she and Hermione were saying. Hermione burst in laughter.   
“Do you think they were caught?” Ron asked in between Hermione’s laughs. We all looked at each other and laughed. Not at the fact that Malfoy was dating Zabini but the fact they were most likely caught. By who? Snape? I would have loved to see that.   
“I hope they were but good for them for being… open about it.” I said. I didn’t want to seem like I was complimenting Malfoy of all people.   
The afternoon came quickly as me and the group sat in front of the Black Lake. Ron looked dreamily at the view. Hermione was reading and so was Sevira. I was just looking at the trees. Hermione and Sevira seem to have gotten closer over the past week. It was nice to see Sevira who was once Professor Snape making friends with mine. It should feel weird to have Sevira hang with us considering that she is Snape but it didn’t feel odd at all. It felt normal. Whatever normal was.   
“You alright Harry?” Sevira asked, I came out of my thoughts. I was staring at Sevira. I looked down at the ground.   
“Yeah, fine.” I stuttered awkwardly. I cursed myself under my breath. Hermione and Ron smirked and I knew what they were thinking. I rolled my eyes.   
I could hear the birds above and the creatures that were in the lake move. It was relaxing. I leaned against the tree and listened. Ron started talking to Hermione and Sevira.   
“Do you think that because Sevira is Snape, we will have a better chance at defeating Voldemort?” Ron asked, Sevira looked at him.   
“I don’t think I will make it easier. Probably more difficult.” Sevira said.   
“Do you remember everything today?” I asked. She nodded. Some days she struggled to remember being Snape but sometimes she would remember. I hope once the war is over, we can sort it out meaning that she doesn’t forget all the time who she was and is.   
“Why would it be more difficult?” Ron asked, giving her a confused look.   
“Well, if the death eaters realize who I am. We are screwed. Most likely I will disappear as Voldemort would have murdered Snape where he stood. So that is the risk, I will have to take in order to help you.” Sevira said truthfully. I gulped. It had never crossed my mind that Sevira would be risking her life along with Professor Snape in order to help defeat the Dark Lord. I shivered. Hermione looked at me in concern.   
“Maybe it is better if you don’t help us. I mean we wouldn’t want you to be harmed in any way” Hermione suggested.   
“I want to help. It is my choice.” Sevira said, looking towards the lake that was sparkling because of the afternoon sun. We all looked at her.   
“It is my choice, Vira. And I don’t want to put you in harm's way.” I said.   
“Do you not think, I have spent all my life including the 37 years I spent as Professor Snape putting myself in harm’s way. I am perfectly used to it.” Sevira said, sternly. She had a point but I don’t want her to get hurt and she has done enough for all of us.   
“Exactly, you have and still are doing enough. You are finished working as a spy.” I said. Hermione and Ron nodded in agreement with me. Sevira looked at all of us. I could see a hit of sadness sweep over her features.   
“No, I am helping you and besides I know where some of the horcruxes are.” she said.   
“Where?” I asked.   
“I will tell you when the time comes.” She said. Now she has to come with us. I hate her sometimes.   
That evening felt different. It felt like I should be doing something but I didn’t know what. We sat at the Gryffindor table. Sevira was eating blueberry pie and I was playing with my ice cream. Letting it melt in the bowl. Hermione and Ron shared a slice of cake. It surprised me how they were not dating already. They would be great together. I looked down at my bowl which now had what looked like chocolate soup. I sighed and looked at the head table to see Professor Snape looking at me. He noticed that I had noticed and looked down. I looked at Sevira who was looking at me as if she had questions.   
“What is it?” I said, looking at my bowl of chocolate soup.   
“I was wondering, why do you feel the need to be the one to defeat the Dark lord?” Sevira asked, Hermione and Ron went silent. They looked at the two of us.   
“I have to do it. It is a part of the prophecy is it not?” I asked, placing my spoon on the table.   
“I guess. I was just wondering.” Sevira said going back to her pie.   
“Was that one of the questions you wanted to ask me when you were Snape?” I asked, I glanced at the head table to see Snape talking to McGonagall.   
“Yes it was.” she replied hastily. I smiled slightly and drank my chocolate soup.   
As we stood up to leave the great hall, I saw Draco Malfoy leave. He kept turning his head to see if anyone was following him.   
“I will see you in the common room” I said as I followed the ferret up the stairs and into the abandoned girls bathroom. I have not been in here for so long. Not since my 2nd year. I hit in one of the stalls and listened to what he was doing. I couldn’t hear anything. I looked through the gap in the stall. Malfoy was hunched over the sink. He looked like he was crying, he pulled his jumper off and turned the tap on. I walked out of the cubicle.   
“I know what you did Malfoy, You hexed Sevira didn’t you.” I accused. Malfoy turned and looked at me. He pointed his wand at me and I jumped out of the way as a hex came out of his wand. I did the same, destroying one of the sinks in the process as Malfoy moved.   
“Sectumsempra!” I shouted and Malfoy fell back onto the now wet floor. Blood came running out from various parts of his body. I stood there, unable to move. What have I done? I could hear someone walking behind me, they pushed past me. It was Professor Snape. He looked at me, I just ran out of the room.  
I arrived at the common room and sat down. I was unable to speak. I just stared into the fire. Ron and Hermione looked concerned and wondered what had happened but Sevira walked up to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. She is Snape. I keep forgetting. But she isn’t at the same time. I leaned into her. She was warm and comforting.   
“It will be okay.” She whispered, as tears fell from my eyes. She continued to say those words until I stopped crying. Hermione and Ron just watched with a sad smile.   
“Harry used the sectumsempra curse… it incarcerated the victim. On Malfoy. He was fine. I remember using the ‘Vulnera sanentur’ spell which heals massive injuries…” Sevira said, informing them both. I couldn’t look at them. I was ashamed. I looked at the burning fire. Watched as the logs cackled away.   
“Maybe it is time to get rid of that book.” Hermione suggested. I nodded. I knew it was too dangerous to be in my hands. I proved that myself. Sevira stood up and held her hand out.   
“We will go and destroy it.” Sevira said as I took her hand. She held my hand gently as we walked to the Room of requirement. I frowned. Why were we here? We walked inside. It was full of strange objects. Nothing like I have seen before. Sevira stopped and stood in front of me. She held her hand out and I placed the book in it. Her fingers curled around the spine gently.   
“Close your eyes.” she said. I closed them and waited in the strange room. I heard footsteps walk away from me and a door shutting. I stood there, with my eyes shut for a while.   
“Open your eyes.” she said. I opened them to see her standing in front of me. I could have taken this chance to kiss her but I didn’t want to ruin the friendship we had. I smiled and turned around.   
I didn’t question where she put the book. I trusted her so I decided to forget about the Half-Blood Prince. I trusted him but after the incident with Malfoy, I couldn’t risk it. We walked together back to the common room. Hermione and Ron looked at us as we sat down beside them.   
“All done?” Hermione asked and Sevira nodded quickly but never said where she put it. I didn’t question it.   
I was still shook up from the day’s events that I couldn’t sleep that night. I walked down to the common room, in my pyjamas and sat down in front of the warm fire.   
“You have to learn to sleep properly,” Someone said from beside me. I turned my head in fright to see Sevira, sitting cross legged on the armchair with her hair in a bun and wearing a blue nightgown.   
“You have to learn not to scare me.” I said, smiling slightly. “Why are you awake?” I asked her.   
“Ah, can’t sleep.” she said.   
“Nightmares?” I asked her. She just nodded slowly. “What about?” I asked.   
“It doesn’t matter.” she said, quietly. Not looking at me at all.   
“Come on, tell me.” I pushed.   
“Fine. I was having a nightmare about killing Dumbledore.” she said, bluntly. I knew that Snape would have to kill him but I didn’t know why.   
“You were asked to. You are not to blame for his death. He is dying anyway.” I said, sadly.   
“You are wondering why I had to kill him, aren’t you? Well let’s just say that is something you will find out soon enough.” she said.   
“I hate waiting.” I said, rolling my eyes.   
“So do I.” she replied. “I wouldn’t worry about what happened to Malfoy. He is fine. I promise you. It was probably a good idea that you did anyway. Now, go to sleep.”. She looked at me and for the second time this year, all I saw was Professor Snape in her eyes. I nodded slowly and headed back up the stone stairs.


	14. The Cave.

That Tuesday evening appeared quickly and it was time to go to the cave with Dumbledore in a search for one of the horcruxes. Me and Sevira walked up to the astronomy tower. She held her hand out when we heard voices.   
“Has it crossed your brilliant mind that I don’t want to want to do this anymore.” Snape said slowly.   
“You agreed, nothing more to discuss.” Dumbledore said, quietly. He sounded annoyed. I heard footsteps coming in our direction. Snape came walking around the small bend in the stairs. He looked at both of us and left without a word. My heart twinged. He looked tired. More than tired, exhausted. Me and Sevira exchanged looks to one another before we walked up the last of the stairs. Dumbledore was standing near the edge, looking at the view. He turned around and sighed at us both.   
“You need to shave my friend,” Dumbledore said. I touched my chin and smiled. “At times I forget how much you’ve grown. At times I still see the small boy from the cupboard. Harry. I  
i am an old man.” I just smiled at him.   
“You look the same to me sir.” I replied.   
“Like your mother, you are unfailingly kind. A trait people never fail to undervalue. I’m afraid.”  
Dumbledore turns then, eyes the fiery sky once more. “The place to which we journey  
Tonight is exceedingly dangerous, Harry and Sevira. I promised that you could accompany me and I stand by that promise. But there is a condition: You must obey any command I give you --without question.”  
“Yes sir,” we both replied at the same time. I smiled.   
“Understand what I’m saying. Should I tell you to hide, you must hide.” Dumbledore continued. We both nodded at him “And should I tell you to abandon me and save yourself… you must do so.” he trailed off. I raided my eyes and looked at him directly. “Your word…”   
“My word.” we both replied, anxiously.   
“Take my arm.” Dumbledore ordered, raising both of his arms.   
“I thought you weren’t supposed to apparate within Hogwarts?” I said, frowning slightly.   
“Being Headmaster, has its perks” he replied, smirking. I looked at Sevira who was biting her lip. We took his arms and we disappeared.   
We arrived at this massive rock close to the cliffs. The sound of waves crashed against the rock. Sevira walked slowly over to me and grabbed my hand. I held onto it tightly. Dumbledore was looking at the cave that I remembered was where Tom hid one of his horcruxes.   
“Is that the cave, sir?” I asked, looking at him. He glanced at me and pursed his lips.   
“Yes.” he said as he raised his arms again. We both grabbed onto them. Both of us and Dumbledore materialize. It is quiet here, eerily so, the waves merely distant thunder. As I glanced about, Dumbledore moves to an archway, and passes beyond. We both follow, and find Dumbledore standing below a towering dome of rock, probing its mysteries with the light from his wand. Me and Sevira looked at each other in confusion. “This is the place. Oh yes, this place has known magic. Where you stand, Harry, Tom Riddle once stood many, many years ago, when he was but a poor orphan boy with a penchant for cruelty…” Dumbledore trailed off. Dumbledore’s wand stops briefly in its arc. His face looks pained as if he was detecting some kind of past unpleasantry. He began to trace his fingers over the surface of the rock. “One wintry afternoon, he lured two younger classmates to this cave. What happened is unclear. But this much is known: the children were damaged.” He retold the story. The Headmaster then began to murmur a strange whisper as his fingers played over the rock and then stopped. He opened his eyes and pulled out a silver dagger from his robes and drew the blade across his forearm speckling the rock with his blood.   
“Sir!” I exclaimed. The rock face made a sizzling noise sounding like acid and began to crumble which revealed a narrow opening.  
“In order to gain passage, payment must be made, payment intended to weaken any intruder.” Dumbledore said, clenching his bleeding hand together.   
“You should’ve let me do it sir or Sevira.” I said.   
“Oh, no, Harry. You and Sevira’s blood is much more precious than mine.” he said with a smirk. I glanced at Sevira who was looking straight ahead. We all emerged onto the rim of a deep lake teeming with mist. A chill hangs in the air. I shivered.   
“Careful. The water.” Dumbledore said, gesturing to the lake that was beneath us. I peered into the lake. It was as black as ink. I could not see anything below the surface. We followed Dumbledore around the rim of the lake. In the center of the lake, there was this greenish glow in the mist.  
“It’s there. The only question is how do we get to it?” Dumbledore said, pointing towards the light.   
“We couldn’t, perhaps, just try a Summoning Charm, sir?” I suggested. I noticed that Sevira was shaking her head. I ignored it.   
“Go ahead,” Dumbledore said, gesturing towards the lake.  
I waved my wand and said “Accio Horcrux!”. There was an explosion and something pale came out of the water. I grabbed Sevira’s hand in fright. We both looked at each other and smiled slightly.   
“Perhaps not.” Dumbledore said, sighing in frustration. I let go of Sevira’s hand as we carried on walking until the headmaster came to a sudden stop, we looked at each other as Dumbledore went towards the lake edge. Dumbledore closed his eyes, and waved his hand in the air and closed it as if he was gripping something. I looked at Sevira in confusion. Dumbledore then took his wand and gave his clenched fist a tap. A thick coppery-green chain appeared out of thin air, extending from the water to Dumbledore’s hand.   
“If you would…” Dumbledore asked, handing me the end of the chain. I took it and pulled along with Dumbledore. I felt a pair of hands wrapped around my waist and pulled. I smiled. The prow of a small boat pierced the surface covered in algae. In an eerie silence, we all sat in the boat as we drifted across the lake. Sevira had to sit on my knee as there was very little room. As the boat rocked, I had to hold onto her waist so she didn’t fall. It was rather awkward for me. Dumbledore was silent.   
“Sir… have you ever taken Felix Felicis?” I asked, breaking the silence.   
“Only recreationally. You see, I believe one creates one’s own luck.” he said, gently. I rolled my eyes. I looked over the boat to see faces.   
“Professor... there are bodies in this lake.” I said, tightening my grip on Sevira’s waist.   
“Yes.” he replied, looking in front of him.   
We finally arrived at the now ferocious green glow. It was sitting on a small island in the middle of the lake. Dumbledore stepped out of the boat. Sevira stood up and got out. She waited with her hand out, I took it as I stepped onto the small island. I thanked her. We joined Dumbledore at the top of the island. The source of the greenish glow was in a basin that was filled with phosphorescent liquid. Dumbledore extends his cursed fingers to touch the liquid. They were pushed back by an invisible barrier.   
“Do you think the Horcrux is in there, sir?” I asked.   
“Oh yes.” he replied, looking at the water.   
Dumbledore steps back and ponders the basin. We all noticed the crystal goblet that was sitting on the edge of the basin. Dumbledore smiled ruefully.   
“It has to be drunk. You remember the condition on which I brought you with me?” Dumbledore asked, I was about to respond but just nodded in response. “This potion might paralyze me. It might cause me to forget why I’m here. It might create so much pain I beg for relief. You are not to indulge these requests, Harry. It is your job to make sure I keep drinking this potion even if you have to force it down my throat. Understood?” the Headmaster continued.   
“Why can’t myself and Sevira drink it, sir?” I asked, Dumbledore smiled gently at me and Sevira.   
“Oh, you are very kind, Harry but I am much older, much cleverer... and much less valuable. You are both in good health.” Dumbledore said, picking up the crystal goblet and dipping it into the water. He put the goblet up to his mouth and drank it. Closing his eyes. I looked at Sevira who was looking away from the scene.   
“Professor?” I said trying to get a response from the man. Dumbledore shakes his head, silencing me, then dips the goblet once more. Twice more he drinks. His hand  
Trembles and he grips the side of the basin tightly. “Professor, can you hear me?”  
Dumbledore says nothing. The corners of his eyes twitch. His hand trembles, savagely this time, and he nearly drops the goblet. I reached out to steady his hand.  
“Don’t... don’t make me…” Dumbledore said, his eyes were filled with anguish and pain. I ignored the pain in my chest from witnessing such emotion from the Headmaster. Sevira made her way towards him.   
“You... you can’t stop, Professor. You’ve got to keep drinking. Like you said. Remember.” Sevira said, making eye contact with the man.   
“Nooooo…” Dumbledore trailed out, I could hear the pain in his voice. I began to wish that he allowed one of us to take this. I stagger back, so primal is Dumbledore’s plea.  
Dumbledore’s arm goes slack, the goblet clanging dully against the side of the basin. I took a breath and stepped forward, placed my hand over Dumbledore’s, lifted the cup into his mouth. I looked at Sevira who was silent, I couldn’t see any emotion on her face but I knew this was causing her just the same amount of pain I was in. “Make it stop... Please... make it  
Stop…” Dumbledore said, the pain wavering through his voice.   
“It will, sir. It’ll stop. But only if you drink…” I replied. My own hand was trembling now, as I tipped the goblet over Dumbledore’s lips.  
“My fault. It’s all my fault…” Dumbledore said, quietly. I looked at Sevira, trying to figure out what he had meant by that. She just shrugged. I brought the goblet up once more. Dumbledore drinks it with difficulty. “Too much... I can’t... take it...I want... to die... kill... kill  
me... KILL ME, HARRY!” He pleaded with me. I sat there, stunned.   
“What?” I asked, unable to comprehend what he just asked me to do.   
“Your word, Harry! Your word!” the headmaster exclaimed. He was obviously in so much pain that he thought death was the easier option.   
“No…” I trailed off.   
“KILL ME! IT’S THE ONLY WAY!” he shouted. Sevira grabbed the goblet off me and put it into the basin, she kneeled down and forced the last of the contents past his lips.   
“There, now. It is over.” she said gently. She placed her hand on Dumbledore’s cheek. I could see the sadness in her eyes. I knew that this was the last night with him somewhat alive. His last night alive, and he isn’t doing what he wishes. My heart panged with guilt. If it wasn’t for me, this would not have happened.   
“Water…” Dumbledore trailed off.   
“The lake, Harry.” Sevira said, handing me the goblet. I grabbed it and walked down to the edge, overlooking the lake. I gulped. I looked down to see the faces once more. I put the goblet in the water. The lake began to churn. I looked up to see nothing. I backed away. I made my way towards Dumbldore and tipped the water through his dry lips. Sevira was looking at the lake. I returned to the water, putting the goblet underneath the water. As I was pulling the goblet back up towards me, a slimy white hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me under the lake's surface.   
“HARRY!” I heard Sevira shout. I looked up to the blurry figure of her above the source. I struggled to get away from this thing. Utterly silent, I twisted in the water, the things were turning me this way and that. I could see the haunted faces float by. I managed to loosen the grip and swim up to the surface. I gasped for air, I caught a glimpse of Sevira who was reaching out to grab my hand. I reached out to grab it, but was pulled underwater once again, into the eerie silence of flailing arms. I looked up when I heard a mulled splashing noise. Sevira was swimming down trying to get to me. I could feel my lungs burn, my eyes lost focus. Everything was going blurry. I closed my eyes and gave up. I could feel hands pulling off the things. I opened my eyes slightly, using the rest of my energy. Sevira was trying to get me free. I could see she was losing air and struggling, as she was clenching her eyes shut and the bubbles were slow. We were both drowning. She was trying to save me. The surface began to sizzle with red light, like blood, then became completely transparent revealing Dumbledore. His wand was directly pointing at the water. The things swam off. Sevira grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the top of the lake. Once I broke the surface, I spat up water and gasped for air. I looked over at Sevira who was struggling to stay afloat. I grabbed her waist and held her against me. I looked at Dumbledore who was staggering, he fell against the basin, weakened by his effort. Me and Sevira made our way to him, climbing out of the water. I scrambled up and steadied him, and the lake exploded with fire. I watched as the bodies in the lake twist in pain. Sevira was still gasping for air. I gently let go of Dumbledore and looked at Sevira who was still gasping.   
“We have to go.” Dumbledore said quietly. We both looked at him and at each other and nodded.


	15. The Death.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are almost at the end of the first story!

We all materialised back into the astronomy tower. Sevira held onto the railing tightly. She seemed to be struggling with her breathing. Dumbledore looked up at the now dark clouds and smiled. I on the other hand went over to see if Sevira was okay.   
“Are you alright?” I asked, holding onto the railing with my right hand. I looked at her, she had tears streaming down her eyes.   
“Yes… I am fine.” she replied, I knew she was lying. I sighed and turned to see Dumbledore sitting on the step.   
“We need to get you up to the hospital, sir, to Madam Pomfrey --” I said, walking towards him.   
“No. Severus... Severus is who I need... Go and wake him... Tell him what has happened...Speak to no one else... I... I shall wait here… With Sevira.” he replied. I looked at her, she nodded.   
“Alright. Okay.” I replied, I gently disengage from Dumbledore, and leave him leaning against the ramparts. I dashed to the stairwell door and, glancing back, sees Dumbledore muttering wearily as he gesticulates with his blackened hand. “Sir… Are you praying?” I asked.   
“No, Harry. I do not pray. I was merely closing a window -- the one that had allowed us to Apparate.” he replied, with a faint smile. I nodded and began to open the door, when footsteps were heard. I drew my wand. Dumbledore cocks his head, listening. Wincing, he straightens up, as if to mask his infirmity. “Hide yourself below. And do not speak or show yourself without my permission. No matter what. Sevira you can stay with me” he said. I looked down, through the lattice work at my feet, to the tier below. The footsteps were drawing closer. “Do as I say Harry,” Dumbledore continued. I hesitated. Dumbledore’s eyes were blazing. “Trust me…”   
I met Dumbledore’s eyes, then I pocketed my wand and slipped down the stairs. As I reached the level below, the door above flew open. I peered up through the grid, watching Malfoy come into view. I clenched my fists as I watched him approach Dumbledore. Sevira was standing beside him.  
“Good evening, Draco. What brings you out on such a fine Spring evening? Or is it Summer?” Dumbledore said, I could hear the pain in his voice. He was trying his best to hide it. Malfoy stood poised, wand in hand, eyes darting about. I noticed that Sevira was tense.   
“Who else is here? I heard you talking.” Malfoy said, pointing his wand directly at Dumbledore.   
“I often talk aloud to myself. I find it extraordinarily useful.That which sounds sane at a whisper can seem utterly mad when said for all the world to hear.But as you can see, I have Miss Prince here. I was talking to her.Haven’t been whispering to yourself, have you, Draco?” Dumbledore asked, smiling a little. Malfoy looked uneasy. “You are not an assassin, Draco.” Dumbledore said gently. I scoffed slightly.   
“How do you know what I am? I’ve done things that would shock you.” Malfoy questioned defensively. His voice was wavering. I could tell he was afraid.   
“Like cursing Katie Bell and hoping she would, in turn, bear a cursed necklace to me? Like replacing a bottle of mead with one laced with poison. Forgive me, Draco, but these are attempts so feeble I cannot help but question if your heart has been really in them. I’m curious. When Voldemort gave you this task, when he asked you to kill me, was it in a whisper?” Dumbledore asked, I could see in his eyes that he was trying to read Draco’s mind and his thoughts. My eyes drifted to Sevira who was looking at me with sad eyes. She nodded sadly, indicating to me that Dumbledore was about to get “murdered”.   
“He trusts me! I was chosen!” Malfoy exclaimed. Malfoy thrusts out his arm, pulls back his sleeve and reveals the dark mark. Dumbledore barely looks at it. I could barely see it but knew what it was immediately.   
“Then I shall make it easy for you.” Dumbledore said, raising his wand at Malfoy without intent. Malfoy pointed his wand at Dumbledore in response.   
“Expelliarmus!” Malfoy shouted, Dumbledore’s wand went flying out of the window. I watched in horror. This was it. This was his death. When was Snape coming to stop Draco and kill the headmaster? Why am I being made to watch this happen?  
“Well done, Draco. But I warn you. Killing is not nearly as easy.” Dumbledore said, raising his eyebrows at him. Sevira stood there awkwardly. Malfoy looks into Dumbledore’s eyes, then to the sky, at the gathering clouds, twisting darkly, then glances to the stairwell. Dumbledore notices and gulps. “You are not alone, are you?” Malfoy sneers and smiles evilly.   
“The Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement.” Malfoy said, still smirking.   
“That cabinet has been broken for years.” the Headmaster commented.   
“I have been mending it.” Malfoy replied, not facing the headmaster but towards the stairs.   
“Ingenious. Let me guess. It has a sister. A twin.” Dumbledore said, which made Malfoy turn to face him. He was still pointing his wand at Dumbledore.  
“In Borgin & Burkes. They form --”  
“A passage, yes. Very good. I once knew a boy years ago who made all the wrong choices. Let me help you, Draco.” Dumbledore said, he sounded sincere.   
“I don’t want your help! Don’t you see! I have to do it! I have to! I’ve got to kill you or he’ll kill  
Me.” Malfoy exclaimed but quietened down at the end of his sentence. I gulped.   
“Say that again, Draco. But aloud this time.” Dumbledore said.Draco looks deep into Dumbledore’s eyes. His hand trembles. Transfixed, I watched from the shadows.  
Slowly, Malfoy begins to lower his wand... when footsteps echo through the tower. Bellatrix, Greyback and the others reached the top of the stairs.   
“Well now, look what we have here. Dumbledore. Wandless and alone. Cornered in his own castle. Well done, Draco.” Bellatrix said, wickedly. “Who do we have here? Little girl!” Bellatrix squealed in wicked delight. I peered up, eyes flashing angrily at the sound of  
Bellatrix’s voice. I drew my wand slowly at her. Sevira looked away from the crazy witch. She was looking at Dumbledore. Dumbledore grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently and smiled before letting go.   
“Good evening, Bellatrix. I think introductions are in order.” Dumbledore said, taking his sad eyes away from his old friend who was now years younger and female.   
“Love to, Albus. But I’m afraid we’re on a bit of a tight schedule. Do it.” Bellatrix said as she was walking around Draco. Malfoy’s wand rises once again. I raised my own, aiming through the grid, poised. Just then, a shadow splinters through the columns to my right. I looked, and found Snape, quiet as a ghost, peering upward. Carefully, Snape draws his wand, then turns to me, a finger to his lips: Shhh. Then he is drifting upward. Silent. A ghost again. This is it. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Watching the man who I had trusted since a 11 year old die was not something I had wished to witness. I glanced up to see Sevira looking at me, I could see the tears wanting to escape.  
“He doesn’t have the stomach. Like his father. Let me finish him. In my own way.” Greyback sneered. I looked at him, he looked like he was about to pounce at the headmaster.   
“No! The Dark Lord was clear. The boy’s to do it. Go on, Draco. Now!” Bellatrix shouts. Moving away from Malfoy. Once again Draco raises his wand, his hand trembling. My own arms are stiff. The vein in my hand pulsates… I couldn’t bear to witness this. My mind drifted to How Sevira must be feeling. Witnessing Dumbledore’s death twice. Watching her old self kill her old friend. My heart panged with hurt. I just wanted to hug her. But she was stuck up there with the death eaters.   
“No…” Snape said, coming out of the shadows. Bellatrix turned to face him.   
“Severus…” Dumbledore said, his voice was knowing. Snape was looking at me for a mere second before facing the headmaster.   
“Well, look who’s here. Hogwarts' own Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Come to see the slaughter?” Bellatrix chirped. Snape didn’t look at her, he kept his eyes on Dumbledore.   
“Severus… please.” Dumbledore pleaded, nudging Sevira out of the way. She moved.   
“Avada Kedavra!” Snape shouted, pointing his wand towards Dumbledore. A jet of green light hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. For a split second he hangs, suspended upon the ramparts and then falls off the tower. I screamed in rage. I had to keep reminding myself that Snape was asked to do this. I looked up to see Bellatrix grabbing Sevira’s arm. With her other hand Bellatrix raises her wand to their wand to the sky and a deafening blast shook the castle, masking my own cry. The clouds explode with grim light mutating into a skull. The Death eaters flee the scene, Bellatrix on the other hand was dragging a screaming Sevira with her.   
“You aren’t going anywhere missy. You are for me to play with!” Bellatrix screeched, I was blinded by hurt and grief. Even though I knew it was going to happen, it didn't make it any less difficult but I cannot let Sevira be taken by them. Not on my watch. Snape and Malfoy made their way down the stairs, I noticed that Snape faltered and glanced at me with a sad expression on his face. I nodded. I wanted him to know I didn’t blame him even though it was difficult for me. I waited a few seconds before following them. Harry bursts through the entrance doors, wand in hand.  
Before me, the ground shimmered eerily in the green glow. I looked up to see the figures of the death eaters fleeing towards Hagrid’s Hut. I see the Bellatrix is still dragging Sevira by the throat down the hill. I raced to follow them, as I approached Snape pulled up and looked back to see me following them, Malfoy was looking at me. Should I put an act on? Act like I blame him? Make it look more believable.   
“You Coward!” I shouted as I ran towards them. Snape stood there, I took out my wand and fired a few harmless spells.   
“Go!” Snape orders Draco. Just then a giant fireball erupts into the sky. Snape wheels around to see Bellatrix and the others silhouetted against the flames. They’ve set Hagrid’s Hut ablaze. Malfoy stands paralyzed. “Go!” Snape pushes him slightly. I looked past him to see Sevira, still being held, I couldn’t see her move. Her eyes were closed. Fear and anxiety washed over me like water. I needed to get to her. I need her to be alive. Snape turned to see what I was looking at. “Bella, let the blood traitor go, she isn’t worth our time!” Bellatrix looks at him in disgust and throws Sevira to the ground. She didn’t move when she hit the ground harshly. Bellatrix ran off with the other death eaters. I had to act just in case someone was watching.Running again . Wand in hand, fake vengeance in my eyes. Up ahead, Snape stands stolidly, tall and black against the raging fire. I pointed my wand, fired a jet of red light. Snape doesn’t move, merely lets it streak by his head. I stopped, chest heaving as I was out of breath, and took aim again.  
“Cruciatus!” I yelled, I couldn’t help but feel guilty. Snape raises his wand, parries the curse with ease. I mouthed a sorry. He just nodded and glared at me. “Incarcerata!” I shouted. Once again, Snape deflects the spell. I smirked. “Impedimenta!” I shouted. Another lazy flick of the arm, another curse defeated. I dropped my arm in frustration. I was getting bored now. I looked around to see if anyone was around. There was. I could see the shadow of Bellatrix waiting in the woods for Snape. Her piercing eyes were staring at us. “Fight! Fight back, you coward!” I shouted. With staggering quickness, Snape’s wand whips forth and I am off my heels and crashing to the earth.   
“Don’t ever associate that word and my name again.” Snape yelled, real anger was in his voice. I shrinked a little. I didn’t mean it. I raised myself up on one knee, pointed my wand when... a jet of red light sent me crashing back into the grass. Snape wheels, sees Bellatrix standing behind. She had moved away from the woods.   
“No! He belongs to the Dark Lord!” Snape exclaimed. Bellatrix eyes Snape levelly, then turns, trots off. Snape glances at me, then turns away himself, walking away. I grimaced, pulled myself back to my feet and aimed one last time. May as well, use the spell.  
“Sectumsempra!” I shouted, knowing that Snape would be able to block it off. Snape wheels and once more sends me flying onto my back. I stared at the stars as they wheel over  
me, when Snape comes into view. I looked at him. He looked annoyed.   
“You dare use my own spells against me, Potter?” he sneered. My eyes stilled. He was the Half-Blood Prince. I shouldn’t be surprised, I mean he is a talented wizard. “You may have gotten your mother’s eyes, but you’re as dim as your father. Yes. It’s me. I’m the Half-Blood Prince.” he continued. He was being too jarring now. I glared at him in annoyance, having to remind myself that he was having to pretend to keep his cover. But was he meaning the words he had said. I could only hope not. Snape kicks my wand aside and turns away, joining Malfoy and the others where they wait beyond the flaming ruins of Hagrid’s Hut. They head for the darkness of the treeline. And vanish. I jumped up and ran towards the limp body of Sevira. She was lying on her side. I moved her onto her back. I leaned down to hear her breathing. Very little.   
“Sevira, can you hear me?” I asked, loudly. No reply. I started to panic. What do I do? I grabbed my wand and pointed it towards the sky. A distress signal. I shook her gently. Nothing. She was barely breathing. We have just lost Dumbledore, we are not losing her as well. I looked to my right to see McGonagall running towards us. As she approached, her eyes were red. Dumbledore. He would have fallen on the courtyard in front of other students. I gulped. Why was this happening now?   
“Oh my god. What happened?!” McGonagall exclaimed, falling to the ground at Sevira’s head.   
“I- I- I tried to help her. Bellatrix was dragging her by her neck from the astronomy tower.” I said, my voice was wavering with different emotions. Anger, sadness and grief.   
“It is okay, Potter. We will get her to the infirmary -” McGonagall trailed off in thought.   
“I am sorry about the Headmaster. I witnessed it, I was told to stay below and not to come up. I didn’t know what to do.” I said, standing up. I offered my professor my hand. She took it and got to her feet and pulled out her wand. She pointed it towards Sevira and lifted her up with a levitating spell. We walked in silence apart from the sniffles of sadness from the both of us.   
“It isn’t your fault Potter, but you must know. You meant a lot to him and if you need someone to talk to, I am here for you.” she finally replied. I looked at her and smiled.   
We made our way to the hospital wing away from the courtyard. We both found it best not to walk past it.   
As we entered the infirmary, Sevira began to move. Pomfrey made her way towards us. She had been crying too. I didn’t have time to cry. I needed to make sure she was okay. Pomfrey moved her towards the bed.   
“This seems to be your favourite place to be.” Pomfrey said to an unconscious Sevira.   
“She moved as we walked into the infirmary” I commented. Pomfrey pursed her lips tightly.   
“I see, what happened?” she asked and I explained everything. She nodded slowly when I had finished. “Seems like she lost air and her body has not yet recovered from the lack of air. She should be fine. But she should stay here until she gets better. Wouldn’t want another death on the same night.” Pomfrey said, sadness running through her voice. I gulped in guilt. McGonagall tapped my shoulder before leaving with Pomfrey. I grabbed Sevira’s hand and caressed it with my thumb. My mind was racing and I was feeling every emotion under the sun. I looked at her, she looked peaceful. Too peaceful. I tightened my grip on her hand. I could feel a sudden swell of sadness in my chest. The tears were wanting to escape. I let them. The warm tears fell like waterfalls down my cheeks. I wanted to scream and yell. I did. I wanted to be rid of these emotions. I placed my head on her hand as I cried. I couldn’t stop crying. I tried. I felt a hand in my hair, playing with it as I cried. I looked up to see Sevira lying there, her eyes open. I placed my hand on her cheek.   
“Sevira… you are awake.” I said, through tears. She didn’t answer, she just wiped my never ending tears away. I leaned back down on her hand as I cried. I could now feel her hand trying to pull me closer to her. I obliged. I lay beside her on the bed, leaning on my head on her shoulder.   
“Let it out…” she whispered. I allowed myself to lose myself to the emotions. I cried and cried, I didn’t care if Pomfrey returned to witness this. Sevira held me close as I allowed the emotions take over. The pain, the grief, the anger and the sadness. Everything was coming out at once, I struggled to comprehend every emotion. I held onto her as if I was falling. I felt like I was falling and drowning at the same time. I looked up at her through blurry eyes. She was crying as well. Not as much as me. I reached up and wiped her tears away. She looked at me and sniffed sadly. “I am so sorry, Harry.” she said, her voice trembling.   
“What do you have to apologise for?” I asked, after trying my best to calm myself down.   
“For-For killing him…” she staggered out. I just moved my arm around her head and moved further up the bed.   
“No...No...No… it isn’t your fault. I don’t blame you.” I soothed, tears were still escaping my eyes, but Sevira was losing herself to her emotions. I just held her tightly as she cried, I kissed her head gently. “It is not your fault.” I repeated over and over again.   
“It is.” she replied dryly. I looked to the bedside table and picked up the glass of water. I pulled it close to her mouth. She opened her mouth and I poured it down her throat. “It is” she repeated. I just shook my head.   
“It is not your fault. Trust me.” I said, gently. I could hear footsteps coming through the door. I looked up to see Ron and Hermione.   
Sevira didn’t care that they were there and kept on losing herself in the waterfall of tears that were cascading down her pale cheeks. They both walked up towards us, both were crying. Hermione wrapped her arms around the both of us and so did Ron.   
We lay there in each other's arms for what felt like hours. It was nice. I could hear Sevira sniffle, and her breathing slowed. She was calming down. We are far from the light.


	16. The End.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this is the last chapter in the first story. AHHH! Thank you so much for reading it! I love you all!

Myself, Hermione and a now recovered Sevira stood by the ramparts while Ron stood further along, just out of earshot. I stared into the distance at the ashes of Hagrid’s Hut. Hermione toys with the locket before us. I looked at it. It was an evil thing but empty. It was a fake. I could feel the evil radiate off it nonetheless. It was disgusting.  
“Do you think he would’ve done it? Draco?” Hermione asked, fiddling with the locket.  
“No. He was lowering his wand. In the end, it was Snape. It was always Snape. And I did nothing…” I said can’t remember if they knew that Snape was an actual good guy. Well Hermione. Obviously Sevira knew since she was him. Technically.  
“Strange. Thinking this is a piece of Voldemort’s soul…” Hermione observed. I smirked.  
“Yeah, strange. Only... it’s not. It’s a fake.” Sevira replied to her. Hermione looked shocked as I nodded in response. “Go on. Open it.” Sevira gestured to the locket. Hermione pries open the locket and removes a piece of parchment folded in a tight square.  
“‘To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B.’” Hermione read out. She looked up to me in confusion. “R.A.B.?” I just shrugged.  
“Regulus Arcturus Black. Younger brother of your godfather Sirius Black.” Sevira answered, looking at the view. We both looked at her in fascination. Of course she knew. How could she not.  
“Maybe the locket is at Grimmauld place then.” Hermione suggested. I nodded.  
“I’m not coming back, Hermione.” I said, abruptly. They all looked at me. “I have to finish what Dumbledore started. I’m not sure where that will lead me... but I’ll let you and Ron know where I am -- when I can.” I continued on. Hermione, Sevira and Ron looked at me with annoyance.  
“I’ve always admired your courage, Harry, but sometimes... you’re really thick” Hermione said, I looked at her in surprise. “You don’t honestly think you can find all those Horcruxes by yourself, do you? You need us, Harry.” She smiled at me, wanting me to smile. I did so briefly. “Do you think we’ll ever... come back?” Hermione asked, her eyes glazing over. So was mine. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently.  
“I don’t know.” I replied, looking towards the grounds. Sevira grabbed my other hand and held it. Me and Sevira seemed to be getting along rather well recently. With all things considered I was glad. She leaned her head on my shoulder as we looked out onto the evening light. Just then a song rises in the air, mournful and haunting, and seconds later a bird soars out from beyond the tallest turret and begins to stitch its way across the sky. Ron makes his way beside us. No one said a word.  
The train station was packed with students going home for the summer. Sevira was going to stay with the Weasley’s so she was safe. I was going back to the Dursely’s unfortunately. We got into a carriage compartment and sat down. Sevira was sitting across from me. Ron and Hermione went to sit in the prefect compartment so it was just us two. I didn’t mind it. The train began to move down the tracks.  
“Good luck with the Dursleys.” Sevira said, glancing towards me before looking back out of the window. I looked at her and smiled.  
“Thank you. I need it.” I replied, laughing slightly. “You know that I like you, right?” I asked, swallowing down my anxiety.  
“Yes… Friends do tend to like each other.” she replied with a smile. I laughed.  
“Well, I like you more than friends…” I trailed off, instantly regretting saying it. I should just have left it. She looked at me in surprise. She looked at me up and down before looking into my eyes.  
“Well, that was -” I jumped over to her, stopping the words exiting her mouth by pressing my lips onto hers. Maybe it was just all the emotions. Maybe this was just a one off. I hoped not. I let go when she didn’t kiss back. I sat back down, looking away in embarrassment. I couldn’t look at her. I heard her move to sit beside me. She placed her hand on mine. “You know, I like you too but it is a bit weird considering that I was your old potion’s professor.” she said. I looked at her. She was being genuine.  
“But you aren’t him anymore.” I said. She just pursed her lips together.  
“I am, Harry. I am him. I can’t deny it. I remember everything. Everything I have said or done to you. All the horrible things. I want to forget about it. I do but I can’t. They were my past. I can’t ignore them.” she replied, sadly. I looked away and looked at the moving trees that were going past the moving train’s window.  
“You have changed though.” I said, I knew she was him but I didn’t care at all. She was different from him. Much different.  
“I believe I have. I have grown to like you for who you are. I don’t hate or dislike you. You are my best friend. I like Ron and Hermione. Even if she knows it all but so am I. I guess.” she said, with a kind smile. All I could do was tighten my grip on her hand. I didn’t want to let go. “Maybe, in the future. After the war, we can think about being together if that is what we both wish. Right now, isn’t the right time to focus on it. I do like you Harry, more than friends but we can’t dwell on that.” she continued. I nodded knowing she was right. She turned my head so I faced her. She placed a small kiss on my cheek before moving to sit across from me once more.  
She was right. Of course she was right. When is she not? Never. We sat in silence until the carriage door opened to reveal Ron and Hermione. They sat down beside us. Ron was beside Sevira and Hermione sat beside me.  
“So, what have you guys been talking about?” Hermione asked. We both looked at her and smiled.  
“Oh, just boring stuff, like the Dursleys.” Sevira replied, as I was a little tongue tied. Hermione eyed us suspiciously but ignored it. I sighed in relief quietly. The rest of the train ride was quiet.  
“So, Mum has put a bed in my room for you to sleep, Sevira.” Ron said, as we were exiting the train and onto platform 9 ¾ . Molly and Arthur were seen waving happily towards us. Sevira took my hand and pulled me into a tight hug.  
“See you soon.” she said before walking off. I went to find the Dursleys, trying not to forget the touch of Sevira Prince. The strange girl I had met less than a year ago. 

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have written 5 chapters for the 2nd story! It will be up in the next month!!


End file.
